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RAINS, CONSTRUCTION LEAVE BPT RD IN
A MESS -
Shobhan Singh & Rohini Nair I TNN
Mumbai: Commuters have long preferred the Bombay Port Trust
road to get from the eastern suburbs to south Mumbai. But in
the recent past, the daily ride hasn’t been quite as smooth.
Barely a month after a new toll naka on the Sewri section of
the road created huge traffic snarls and was subsequently
discontinued, commuters claim that MMRDA’s construction work
and the monsoon have made using the BPT road, a time
consuming exercise.
The section of the road after the Chembur toll naka up to the Indian Oil Refinery, especially, is in a very bad condition. Vehicles have to navigate through wide potholes filled with water. Ongoing work on an MMRDA flyover has reduced the width of the road so much that only one lane of traffic can pass at a time. “A distance that would take barely a minute to travel now takes over an hour. Since the last three days, they’ve blocked one side of the road, and only one lane of vehicles can pass. So invariably, the roads get jammed. The waterlogging has only made things worse,’’ said Dr Prince John, who uses the BPT Road regularly. Other sections of the road aren’t any better. Friday night witnessed a huge pile-up on the Sewri section of the road. “The road has been temporarily narrowed near the Reay Road toll naka and waterlogging at Sewri and Mazgaon make driving a nightmare. For this, we pay a toll of Rs 30 every day,’’ said an angry B N Kumar, another motorist.
BUMPY RIDE: The stretch from the Chembur toll naka to
the Indian Oil refinery is in a bad state where motorists
have to navigate huge craters
With
no immediate respite in sight, commuters have suggested that at
least two lanes should be opened up along the Chembur stretch,
so that traffic can move simultaneously in both directions.
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