Drive at your own risk on Thane roads

While five people have lost their lives in pothole-related accidents in Kalyan, the roads in Thane are no better, revealed a pothole survey by the Thane Municipal Corporation.

The survey found that the city had 947 potholes as of July 12, which covers an area of more than 8224.11sqm across the city.

The number of potholes is the most in Ghodbunder, Diva and Vartak Nagar.

Anil Patil, TMC’s city engineer, said, “The potholes are on the old roads. None of the new roads have developed craters. As per our survey, there are 947 potholes and we have already filled 654 potholes.”

The survey revealed that the Majiwada-Manpada area which includes the Ghodbunder Road has the maximum potholes at 190, followed by 165 in Vartak Nagar and 135 in Diva. Diva has huge craters which are spread over an area of 6395 sqm, the largest in the city.

Patil added, “We are filling the potholes using different methods. We use bricks and sand mixture, bitumen or concrete depending on the road. Once we get a dry spell, we will focus on roads which have completely worn off. They will be coated with a layer of rich concrete to prevent damage.”

The TMC had spent over Rs2.5 crore on road repairs before monsoon and will spend Rs2 crore on repairing potholes.

Residents are scared of travelling on roads. Shashikant Venupure, 36, resident of Wagale Estate, said, “Road no. 22 and 34 at Wagale Estate are in a pathetic condition. Potholes have also developed on the Thane side road of Modela Check Post at Wagale Estate. This creates lot of traffic congestion at the toll plaza during the peak hours. Many heavy vehicles also use the toll plaza adding to the congestion.”

Yogesh Patil, 28, resident of Kalwa, said, that the bad road show that the repair works were done in a shoddy manner.

“The TMC has no system in place to start road repairs before monsoon or set up a mechanism to fill potholes as and when they appear,” he said.