With the monsoon retreating, Mumbaikars are once again hoping the city’s battered roads will finally see some repairs. One such trouble spot is the service road of the Western Express Highway (WEH) near Santacruz Metro station (Aqua Line), where Entry/Exit B2 was opened last October. The entry/exit is awkwardly located in the middle of the service road, splitting it into two narrow lanes for vehicles coming from Road No. 10 via VN Bakshi Chowk towards Santacruz East railway station or the Western Express Highway.
Of these, the right-side lane is used the most and has now turned into a pothole-ridden nightmare. For the past two years, the surface has been deteriorating, with craters as deep as three to four inches in several spots. Santosh Tiwari, a local who works near the service road, told mid-day, “When we saw the road getting worse, we approached the BMC, but they said it’s not under them, it’s the Metro authority’s responsibility.
Since then, I’ve seen multiple accidents, people tripping, and vehicles skidding because of the uneven surface and lack of a proper footpath.”
Autorickshaw and two-wheeler riders echo his frustration. “Even my auto owner tells me to avoid bad roads, but I can’t refuse passengers because I need the money,” said Ashish Kumar, an autorickshaw driver. “Every time I drive to the Santacruz Metro, my back hurts from the bumps. But what choice do we have when authorities don’t care about us?”
Sharing the same frustration, Dheeraj Gupta, a biker who uses the road daily, said, “I’ve almost fallen off twice on this stretch. During rain, the potholes fill up with water, so you can’t tell how deep they are. There’s a huge one right in the middle, about 3 to 4 inches deep. Riding here is dangerous and painful. I just hope it’s fixed before the next monsoon.”
When mid-day contacted the H East ward of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) for a response, officials had not replied by the time this report went to print.
Voices
Santosh Tiwari, a local
‘When we saw the road getting worse, we approached the BMC, but they said it’s not under them, it’s the Metro authority’s responsibility. Since then, I’ve seen multiple accidents, people tripping, and vehicles skidding because of the uneven surface and lack of a proper footpath’
Dheeraj Gupta, a biker
‘I’ve almost fallen off twice on this stretch. During rains, the potholes fill up with water, so you can’t tell how deep they are. There’s a huge one right in the middle, about 3 to 4 inches deep’
Ashish Kumar, an autorickshaw driver
‘Every time I drive to the Santacruz Metro, my back hurts from the bumps. But what choice do we have when authorities don’t care about us?’
