After smooth Atal Setu drive, it’s a bumpy ride to reach Mumbai-Pune E-way

After a smooth drive on the 21km Atal Setu or Mumbai Trans Harbour Link (MTHL) by paying Rs 250 toll for a single journey, motorists face a bumpy ride as they navigate the pockmarked JNPT-Panvel road from Palaspe for about 5km to reach the Mumbai-Pune Expressway at the junction of Kon village in Panvel taluka.
“There have been traffic snarls as vehicles move slowly due on the pockmarked stretch on Palaspe bridge and near Rahul Park hotel.The road is in an even worse condition from Palaspe till Marathon building and Nandgaon to Palaspe,” said an inspector attached to the Panvel city traffic unit.
Traffic police have been deployed at various spots to streamline the traffic movement. As operation and maintenance of the road is the responsibility of the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), its officials have been instructed to fix the road at the earliest to resolve the traffic congestion which mostly occurs when there is a breakdown of a heavy vehicle, especially on the pothole-ridden Palaspe bridge and near D-point junction where the narrow road causes a bottleneck.
Sanpada resident Vineet Mishra (46) said his car broke down on Palaspe bridge after a bumpy ride on the pockmarked road on Sept 16. “I had opted to travel along Atal Setu for a smooth ride from Mumbai to reach Palapse to meet a client. Thereafter, I had to travel towards Pune but to reach the Expressway near Kon village in Panvel taluka, I had to travel along the JNPT-Panvel road. My car broke down due to the bumpy ride on the pothole-ridden road. I struggled to find a mechanic and get my car repaired,” he added.
Jaswant Singh, a 58-year-old trucker transporting goods from Sewri to Pune, also faced difficulties. “As I was transporting fragile consignment, I travelled along Atal Setu by paying a Rs 830 toll for a single journey. However, after Atal Setu, the nightmare began due to the pockmarked road from Palaspe bridge onwards for about 7-8km. I was worried about the fragile goods getting damaged, hence driving at a slow speed due to which it took around an hour to reach Mumbai-Pune Expressway.”
When contacted, NHAI project director Yeshwant Ghotkar said: “There are several potholes on the stretch from D-point junction towards JNPT, Kalamboli and Palaspe, apart from pockmarked stretch on Palaspe bridge and Nandgaon junction.”
“As the five-year tender contract of the agency that was appointed for operation and maintenance of the road under NHAI jurisdiction has ended, we have floated a new tender for concretisation of the pothole-ridden JNPT-Panvel road. Once the new agency is finalised, all junctions will be concretised and the pothole-ridden roads will be refurbished by asphalting. Meanwhile, as a temporary solution, the potholes are being filled with crushed pebble stones. Due to the monsoon, it is not possible to undertake asphalting by filling the potholes with tar,” he added.
Ghotkar said the 84km of the Mumbai-Goa highway expansion work is nearing completion, with about 74km of road work already completed. The remaining 10km from Panvel to Indapur under NHAI is being prioritised. Pending works include an 800m vehicular underpass at Gadap village and vehicular and pedestrian underpasses at Nagothane, Kolad, and Ratwad in Raigad district.