Sion-Panvel highway faces 7km traffic pileup as heavy downpour lashes Mumbai & suburbs

MUMBAI/NAVI MUMBAI: Parts of the city, Thane and Navi Mumbai woke up to heavy

showers

on Saturday. Being a weekend, congestion on arterial roads was less than on other days, as many chose to stay put at home.

But motorists on the traffic-prone spot next to Kopra bridge on the Pune-bound carriageway of the busy Sion-Panvel Highway had a nightmarish experience. A 7km-long

pileup

that started at 8.30am stretched till late into the night. Many had ventured out for a weekend outing to Khandala, Lonavla and the Konkan coast.

“It took me four hours to negotiate the 5km stretch from the Belapur flyover to Kharghar toll plaza in the afternoon. I was scheduled to attend an important meeting in Pune,” said Shankar Gade, a businessman from Chembur.

Traffic

snarls casused by waterlogging and potholes extended gradually towards Kharghar flyover and later to the CBD and Uran Phata flyovers near D Y Patil stadium, Nerul.

“There is a well-marked low pressure area over western Madhya Pradesh and the adjoining eastern Rajasthan with an associated upper air cyclonic circulation,” said K S Hosalikar, deputy director-general, western region, IMD. It is this weather condition that has led to significant showers.

At Khar, there was extreme waterlogging at Jay Bharat society, which comprises 66 buildings. Surindra Kubchandani, a resident, said the bigger problem is that the water does not recede despite two dewatering pumps. “We are under house arrest,” he said.

Since June 1, the IMD’s Colaba observatory has recorded 658.5mm rainfall and the one at Santacruz 811.8mm. However, the dry spell after the season’s onset has seen below average rainfall. In case of Colaba, it is 277.1mm below normal and Santacruz 238.7mm.

In the morning, snarls were reported near Magathane depot on Western Express Highway and below Saibaba temple flyover. LBS Road at Kurla was choc a bloc as motorists could not figure out where the open manholes were. No traffic policemen were posted on the stretch, a motorist tweeted. Congestion was reported on LBS Marg near Ghatkopar. Later in the day, an accident on Rani Sati flyover slowed down north-bound traffic on WEH. A massive tree fell on Juhu-Versova Link Road in the evening, clogging the stretch.

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