THIEVES BREAK INTO PARKED CAR AT PANVEL, STEAL ₹1 LAKH

NAVIMUMBAI: Miscreants broke a car windowpane and decamped with ₹1 lakh in only 20 minutes on Monday.

Pankaj Dhate, a 32-year-old Panvel resident, used to work at a logistics firm in Nerul but has been unemployed for a month. On Monday, Dhate decided to deposit ₹1 lakh in a savings account and reached Taloja. As the bank employee told him he can only deposit the cash after the account is activated, Dhate went to Panvel RTO to collect the registration certificate book of his car.

Dhate had parked his car on the road opposite the RTO and went inside the office at 11.30am.

“My blue bag containing the cash, ATM card and other bank documents were on the seat next to the driver’s seat. When I returned 20 minutes later, I saw thewindowpanebroken. Ilostall my savings,” said Dhate.

“We are questioning a few food stall owners in the area and scanning the CCTV footage in the vicinity to identify the suspect. A case of theft has been registered as of now,” said an officer at Kalamboli police station.

While parking is available on the RTO premises, the complainant had parked outside on the road thinking the work will take only a few minutes.

KALYAN The work of widening Kalyan-Badlapur road is on with major portions dug up on both the sides of the stretch.

The 8km-long Kalyan-Badlapur road links Kalyan, Ulhasnagar, Ambernath and Badlapur.

Two years ago, the work was stalled owning to encroachments on the stretch, which comesunderUlhasnagarMunicipal Corporation (UMC).

MumbaiMetropolitanRegion Development Authority (MMRDA) said it would complete the work before monsoon.

“We have sanctioned ₹3.14 crore for the work on the stretch and the civic body has been askedtocarryouttheworkwithout delay so that the widening work is completed on time,” said an official from MMRDA, who did not wish to be named.

The dug-up road has created a traffic mess.

There are no barricades, no signboardstoalertcommutersof the work in progress and illegal parking of vehicles has added to the traffic congestion.

“There is no proper traffic management. There are no safety measures taken as the road which is dug has no barricades.Ittakesmorethananhour to travel from Kalyan to Ambernath,” said Vijay Salvi, 38, who takes the stretch to reach his workplace in Ambernath daily.

“On Sunday, I and my family were stuck in the traffic for at least an hour at Forest Naka. It was difficult to drive,” said SatishPillai, 39, wholivesinKalyan.

Students of Guru Govind School near Follower lane are often seen walking on the dug-up portion, playing on the pile of mud or stones kept for road work. At Shantinagar in Ulhasnagar, the silt removed from the underground drainage line dug up for road-widening work has been piled up on the roadside.

This has made it difficult for vehicles to move.

A UMC official, requesting anonymity, said, “We have directed the department to remove the piled-up silt at Shantinagar. We will ensure motorists are not inconvenienced.”

Autorickshaws are parked in the middle of the road at Shivaji ChowkinUlhasnagarasoneside of the road is dug up. There is hardly any space for vehicles.

Going towards Ambernath , commuters’ nightmare continues as the road at Forest Naka and roadoutside theAmbernath police station is also dug up and there are several small roads that merge on the stretch.

“It has become difficult to handle the chaos on the road. We don’t have enough manpower to manage traffic. At least 40 personnel and wardens are deployed on the stretch daily. If we find spots which are unsafe, we ask the authority to barricade,” said Sunil Jadhav, traffic inspector, Ambernath unit

The workof Kalyan-Badlapur link road was delayed due to encroachments, lack of funds and shifting utilities like pipelines and electric poles.

The road-widening work has been given to different contractors. The stretch from Forest Naka to Sai Baba temple was under public works department. In 2013, it was handed over to the MMRDA, which had planned to widen the stretch by 100 feet.

UMC officials said MMRDA will widen the road by 30 feet only owning to lack of space.

OnMonday,MMRDAofficials

wrote to UMC commissioner Sudhakar Deshmukh, asking him to raze structures on this stretch, divert drainage line and changethepanelsoftheconcrete road which falls on the KalyanBadlapur road and comes under the civic body’s jurisdiction.

AnMMRDAofficialsaid,“We have barricaded most stretches but miscreants either steal the barricades or damage them when our workers are not around.Wearetakingthehelpof on-duty traffic police to curb such incidents. Commuters should also follow traffic rules so that there is discipline on the road.”