With BMC undertaking the concreting of another road in the colony, traffic has been diverted through this stretch. Morning walkers have been forced to abandon the road for their walk, given its dismal condition.
A regular morning walker said the road is also used by cattle shed workers. “The road was not used for vehicles largely until recently when the BMC began concreting the main Aarey Colony Road and therefore diverted traffic through this road. It is used by locals for walks as it is such a beautiful stretch. Driving here is even worse, given how cratered the surface is,” he said.
A BMC official from the local ward office said what was done six months ago was only temporary resurfacing. “Top level works along the road are yet to be completed and would be done by us once the dry spell sets in. In June, chief minister Eknath Shinde had approved the handing over of around 45km of internal roads in Aarey Colony to the BMC. But a formal handing-over is yet to take place. Once this is done, the BMC may consider concreting the stretch,” he said.
Filmmaker Ashoke Pandit on Saturday circulated a video criticizing the BMC’s practice of attributing the sorry state of Mumbai’s roads to rainfall.
He highlighted that even roads beneath Metro stations like Gundavali in Andheri (East) are filled with potholes. In a symbolic protest, members of the NGO Watchdog Foundation placed umbrellas over potholes in Marol on Saturday, emphasizing that even craters require protection from rain so that they do not worsen.
Foundation member Godfrey Pimenta said, “We complained that potholes have emerged on Church Road, Marol, barely five months after the PM’s visit to the area, when BMC resurfaced the stretch. The BMC was quick to fill potholes in other places as well at the time. A permanent solution is needed.”
Pandit has questioned the BMC’s recent penalty for contractors, saying it has not helped alleviate the problems of motorists.
“Till there is some kind of legal action against those responsible, Mumbai will keep getting shoddy roads. The excuse of heavy rainfall damaging Mumbai’s roads is absolutely unacceptable,” the filmmaker said.
