Mumbra bypass road shut for heavy vehicles

THANE: The Thane-bound lane of the Mumbra Bypass Road will be off limits for heavy vehicles at least till Tuesday, officials said on Saturday.

A five-foot deep crater had formed on the Reti Bandar Bridge stretch of the road in the early hours of Thursday, with the part under the bridge being clearly visible through the iron bars.

The busy road connects Thane and Navi Mumbai, with important locations like Bhiwandi, Taloja, Panvel and the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust, and is also used by vehicles travelling to and from locations out of Maharashtra. Thousands of vehicles ply on the road every day.

Repair work on the road was started late at the spot on Thursday, and while just some part of the road was closed off for heavy vehicles initially, the restriction was later put into place for the entire Thanebound lane.

“The restriction for heavy vehicles will stay in effect till Tuesday as the Public Works Department (PWD) has informed us that they will need at least that much time to fully repair the crater. A steel plate is being installed over it and hence, the restrictions will stay in place till the work is complete,” DCP Balasaheb Patil, Thane Traffic Police, said.

Patil added that the restrictions had caused traffic snarls in Thane, Kalyan and Navi Mumbai and measures had been taken to deal with this.

“We have posted personnel in Thane and Kalyan to divert heavy vehicles to alternative routes as well as to regulate the flow of traffic. We are also in touch with the Navi Mumbai Traffic Police, who are doing the same at the Panvel end,” Patil said.

Repairs being carried out at the Mumbra bypass road after a crater developed on Thursday.