No one nodal agency for multiple infra projects, Mumbai-Nashik highway lies broken

Darshan Chandaliya drives from his Nashik home to Kasara, parks his car and takes a train to his Andheri office. The chartered accountant, who also teaches at a college, would rather sit cheek by jowl in a train than be left weary to the bone by the hours-long jams between Kasara and Thane on NH-3, the lone highway connecting Mumbai with Nashik and northern Maharashtra.

Prominent Marathi TV and theatre actor Abhijeet Khandkekar has been forced to cut down visits to his hometown in Nashik because travelling from his Goregaon residence via the highway takes at least twice as long as the four hours it took before.

Heavy congestion on multiple stretches have put the spotlight on the 145km highway for several years now -with CM Eknath Shinde even recently warning the agencies of strict action over laxity in repairs-but a lasting solution eludes the authorities. Experts cite the lack of a single nodal agency governing the highway stretch cutting through two districts and different agencies simultaneously executing infrastructure projects with varied completion schedules, creating as many as nine problem spots (see graphic), as key reasons for the massive jams. Bhiwandi MLA Rais Shaikh, too, feels that the lack of coordination between the many agencies is responsible for the chaos.

While congestion at these spots persists all through the year, it aggravates during the monsoon, with potholes compounding the problem at many other spots, often increasing travel time to over eight hours, say commuters.

The Thane-Nashik stretch is under the guardianship of National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) as it takes off from Majiwada through the Bhiwandi bypass portion, which is governed by Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) till Vadape for expansion to 12 lanes. Agencies like Central Railway are working on some stretches, and the presence of warehouse hubs in Bhiwandi Nizampur Municipal Corporation's (BNMC) limits also influences traffic movement on the highway.

A road authority official says multiple agencies influence the highway traffic movement, which was also highlighted during a presentation made before deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar recently. An MSRDC official had highlighted how under-developed areas within BNMC's region on the Thane-Vadape section that connected the warehouse hubs with the highways saw huge trucks trying to enter the pockmarked narrow lanes from Mankoli and, thereby, clogging the highway.

Similarly, an NHAI official pointed out how unfinished revamp work of the Asangaon railway overbridge on the Vadape-Nashik section was causing bottlenecks, following which the agency had to intervene and take over the work.

The poor condition of the highway has also dented fortunes of inter-state bus operators and transporters. K V Shetty of Supreme Travels claims how the longer travel time has resulted in passengers opting for trains. "We are not just losing passengers but also suffering operational costs as we are forced to reduce frequencies even as buses end up burning fuel while stranded in jams," he says.

"The bad roads and congestion and subsequent regulations on trucks' movements on the route is causing delays in transporting goods. We are taking two days to deliver goods even between Bhiwandi and Mumbai, which earlier took barely 12 hours. Truck operators are the most neglected lot despite paying the highest toll," says Abhishek Gupta, a Mumbai-based transporter and general secretary of the All India Transporter's Welfare Association.

Experts stress on the need to deploy a nodal agency or officer to keep a check on the highway and its allied infrastructure works. "The need for a nodal officer was also highlighted during a recent briefing by the agencies to the chief minister. The nodal officer can monitor works and ensure a systematic and congruent flow of works, in addition to taking decisions on traffic movement and formulating solutions like developing temporary truck terminals or alternative routes during emergencies," says an expert.

Shinde, at a recent review, had said the agencies have begun repairing damaged sections on the highway stretch.