It's the same story everywhere

MUMBAI: The roads that lead to the country's financial capital don't come cheap — every entry or exit has a toll story. The levy, the government claims, is charged against the construction of over 55 flyovers built over the last 13 years across Mumbai region . But with increasing potholes wearing their patience thin, Mumbaikars say that is a tall tale.
Thane resident Vinaya Prabhu, who travels every day to South Mumbai in her car, questions the purpose of recovering toll as she crosses a stretch of potholed flyovers between Mulund and CST."Whether it's Chheda Nagar, Amar Mahal, Kurla or Sion, potholes have taken a toll on my vertebra. How long will we live with the shoddy construction work? Look at cities in the eastern countries which developed with us, the roads and bridges there are like carpets," she said.
Flyovers at Sion, Wadala, Parel, Dadar, and Hindmata, some recently built, have crater-size potholes and long uneven stretches. Mumbai has around 65 flyovers with the recent commissioning of 2.4 km-long Lalbaug flyover. The Barfiwala flyover, which is partially opened, will be the 66th.
Besides MSRDC's 49 flyovers and around six of the BMC, the MMRDA recently built 11 flyovers in the city. Though these flyovers should have eased traffic by reducing travel time, they failed to make much impact due to shoddy work. "Not just the monsoon , certain flyovers always have uneven stretches. The joints on the flyovers and the level of the asphalt do not match, giving a bumpy ride to even those who travel in luxury cars," says Kishor Bijlani, a resident of Chembur.
In the morning peak hour, Kishor said traffic crawls on the Sion, Lalbaug and the JJ flyovers as neither potholes nor traffic management have improved due to lack of coordination among agencies. Signals at the Juhu lane-end of Barfiwala flyover and narrow lanes at the Byculla-end of Lalbaug flyover virtually bring traffic to a halt after offering a speedy drive to a certain extent. "It becomes a big pile up of vehicles at every flyover then," he added.
N V Mirani, retired principal secretary of PWD and chairman of the STAC (standard technical advisory committee on roads) lamented the fact that neither officers nor contractors were interested in training about potholes. "Potholes on flyovers can occur if the wearing coat of asphalt gets broken. It is a norm that asphalting should be complete by May 20 as it requires time to settle. As vehicles pass over the surface the layer settles and oil in the asphalt evaporates, known as oxidation. But unfortunately these technicalities are being ignored," said Mirani.