Eknath Shinde inspects roads in Thane amid monsoon woes; isn’t it too late, asks NCP

Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Sunday inspected the Mumbai-Nashik highway stretch in Thane district and some nearby roads and told officials to immediately fill potholes and take other measures to ensure smooth traffic flow. The region has seen heavy rains in the past one week and several roads are in bad condition, making commute difficult and time consuming, prompting the CM to set up a task force a day earlier under the Thane collector to tide over the problem.

The CM asked officials to complete work on the eight-lane stretch speedily to mitigate traffic congestion on the Thane-Nashik highway till Padgha.The CM visited the stretch of the highway from Kharegaon to Padgha as well as till Khadvali Phata and asked officials to fill potholes with mastic immediately.Officials from the Thane collectorate, Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority, Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation, National Highway Authority of India, PWD, among others.

Hitting out at the visit, Nationalist Congress Party spokesperson Clyde Crasto said, “The chief minister had promised that the roads would be pothole-free and had assured action against erring officials before the monsoon.”The NCP leader wanted to know what action had been taken so far against officials.Isn’t it too late, the NCP leader asked in connection with the CM’s visit. Mangal Prabhat Lodha on Sunday stated that the city will become pothole-free in the next 30 days. The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) said that 6,000 out of the 9,000 potholes in Mumbai have already been filled. The work to fill many potholes was initiated by Lodha and the BMC after the city got some much needed relief from the incessant rainfall. Furthermore, a special pothole-filling machine is being used in all wards to speed up operations in this regard. They can reportedly finish the task in a span of six hours.