Eknath Shinde directs MMRDA & MSRDC to form teams to work 24x7 to fill potholes

|HT|

As the state and city authorities are drawing flak for poor state of roads in Thane and other parts of the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR), chief minister Eknath Shinde on Saturday directed the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) and Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) to form teams that would work 24x7 to fill the potholes. He also asked MMRDA to work out a consolidated road development project to do away with traffic congestion at several places in the MMR. Shinde held a meeting on heavy traffic congestion in Thane city and other parts of Thane district. A major reason behind the traffic congestion is the potholes on roads that have badly affected vehicular movement. In the meeting, Shinde said both MMRDA and MSRDC should depute separate teams of its personnel that will be operational round the clock and ensure the filling of potholes. The potholes should be filled using readymix material.

“The teams should give priority to filling the potholes without getting into the formalities of which agency is responsible for the maintenance of the road and recover the money from the concerned authority later,” Shinde said in the meeting. He also advised that the traffic police’s assistance should be taken for the same as they are well aware of potholes on roads. Meanwhile, Shinde also directed the MMRDA to prepare a road development project to do away with traffic congestion in the MMR. “There should be long-term planning and the MMRDA should take an initiative for the same,”Shinde said in the meeting. He said the plan should be prepared in consultation with experts to build bypasses, flyovers, underpasses and service roads to ease traffic congestion. The plan should be made to get rid of traffic congestion in Mumbai, Thane city, Navi Mumbai, Shil Phata (Mumbra), and Kalyan-Dombivli, Mira-Bhayander, Ulhasnagar and Bhiwandi, the MMRDA said. The MMRDA officials said they would work on the directives. “We already have a comprehensive transport infrastructure plan. Besides, each civic body in the MMR has its own plan. We will take all of this into consideration and consult the experts for the project,” said a senior MMRDA official who wished not to be named.

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