Protest against bad roads holds up traffic

KALYAN: Traffic was brought to a standstill at 11am on Friday at Sahjanand Chowk when the Congress youth wing, Kalyan held a rasta roko to protest against the poor condition of roads.

About 300 people joined the protest against potholes and craters, leading to a traffic jam from Kalyan station to Sahjanand Chowk. Many office-goers were affected. “Potholes have been plaguing Kalyan since the past three months. Neither the commissioner nor the city mayor bothered to take stock of the situation. Hence, we have been forced to protest,” said Brij Dutt spokesperson, Congress youth wing, Kalyan.

Residents said potholes had surfaced on several important city roads such as Subhash Chowk, Bail Bazar, Khadakpada Road, Shivaji Road and the road leading to Anupam Nagar, slowing down traffic and leading to accidents. They added that despite several requests, their problems have not been solved.

“We will undertake the concretisation of most roads as cement roads last longer than coal and tar roads. The concretised roads will last for at least 30 years. Even 20 years is good enough for us. The road repairs have started. Potholes are also being taken care of,” said E Ravendiran, Kalyan Dombivli Municipal Corporation (KDMC) civic chief.

“I left for work at 10.30am but it took more than an hour to reach Kalyan station. I usually reach within half an hour but it was difficult to navigate the roads as more than 200 people were protesting,” said Ram Kadam, 39, a resident of Sudhansu Kiran Society.

“The potholes have made commuting difficult. However, a protest is not the right course of action as it leads to unnecessary delays. I don’t support it. Civic officials should look at re-patching and repairing the roads,” said Amrita Joshi, 27, a resident of Beturkar Pada who travels from Kalyan to Vidyavihar daily.

“I missed my meeting because of the protest. I reached my office after a delay of more than an hour. I was held up in traffic because of the protest,” said Rahul Srivastava, 28, an Adharwadi resident.

Recently, the KDMC has started filling the potholes during dry spells. However, they have resurfaced within 15 days owing to the corporation’s shoddy work.

“The internal roads in the city and the one at Bail bazar are in bad shape and need urgent repairs. We are also taking into account the roads of villages that have recently been added to the KDMC as they are nonmotorable and potholes have surfaced on them. We have been waiting for a dry spell since the past three days. We have attended to potholes in many areas and will take care of all the potholes before Ganeshotsav,” said, Pramod Kulkarni City Engineer KDMC.