Exclusive! Nightmare on NH48: 'We are stuck on this road for five hours!'

The ongoing concreting work on a sixlane bituminous carriageway on the MumbaiAhmedabad highway has thrown traffic out of gear White topping work has commenced at two locationsmdashnear the Khaniwade toll plaza and close to the Tungareshwar temple However the contractor Nirmal BuildInfra Private Limited has reportedly redirected traffic without obtaining a No Objection Certificate NOC from local police leading to chaos on the highwayNumerous vehicles including ambulances and cabs carrying passengers heading to the airport have remained stranded for hours on the highway Transporters informed midday that the situation worsens at night with hundreds of interstate heavy vehicles forced to shut down engines for extended periods due to unregulated trafficThe ongoing concreting work is severely impacting southbound traffic Commuters travelling daily from Vasai to Mumbai highlight Chinchoti Phata as a bottleneck with vehicles from Vasai to NH48 and Dahanu to Mumbai experiencing significantly prolonged waits to cross the Varsova bridge according to Atul Mote a local resident of VasaiDeputy Commissioner of Police Traffic Prakash Gaikwad of Mira Bhayandar Vasai Virar MBVV police said The contractors diversions on the highway were made without informing us and no NOC was obtained from the MBVV police Traffic Inspector Sagar Ingole added The contractor should have stationed traffic wardens at diversion points but none were deployed Now all vehicles are being rerouted to Vasai causing expected heavy traffic near Range Road We have asked the contractor to deploy a traffic warden at the diversion spotTraffic Inspector Sagar Ingole Truck driver Imran Memon and Mahesh Champanerkar AdvocateAddressing these concerns General Manager Ashok Kumar Sharma of Nirmal Build Infra Private Limited said We have taken permission from all necessary authorities specified by the NHAI for our developmental work before the work started Acknowledging the traffic disruptions caused by the ongoing work Sharma said Weve deployed 16 traffic wardens near Vasai Phata and plan to increase the deployment on FridayMBVV police senior officials fear that the heavy traffic jams on the MumbaiAhmedabad highway could escalate into law and order issues Road users tend to lose their cool when stuck leading to heated arguments and potential physical assaults The Contractor should have informed local police stations about ongoing developmental work to prevent such situationsCommuters facing losesTruck driver Imran Memon said ldquoI was transporting dumping material from Pelhar to Kaman a distance of around 12 km It took me over 4 hours on Thursday to navigate the MumbaiAhmedabad highway Due to the delay I missed another assignment in Kaman incurring a loss of Rs 6000 Memon added The passengers in cabs seemed nervous heading to airports and railway stations stuck alongside It was a terrible experience There was no one regulating the traffic he further explainedAbdul Rehman who operates a stable in Nalasopara and commutes daily to Mumbai carrying milk said ldquoThe service road is littered with garbage potholes and other issues forcing us to either slow down or get stuck This problem started on Thursday doubling the time it takes for me to reach Mumbai I fear the milk might spoil as we lack refrigeration while transporting itrdquo he addedMBVV police senior officials fear that the heavy traffic jams on the MumbaiAhmedabad highway could escalate into law and order issuesAnother stable owner Mahesh Kumar Joshi said ldquoMilk has a shelf life of only three hours If its not refrigerated or boiled in time it spoils We faced this issue as the journey from Nalasopara to Mumbai took longer than expected I incurred a loss of Rs 12000 as my vehicle couldnt deliver the milk container on time in Mumbai People like us are ignored and left to suffer in traffic jams Many tabela owners have suffered losses in the last two days This is just the beginning and were uncertain when this concreting work will end and relieve this traffic chaosrdquo Joshi saidMeeting on SaturdayTo resolve the NOC dispute between NHAIappointed contractor and MBVV police parliamentarian Rajendra Gavit has called for a meeting at the MBVV police commissioners office on Saturday expecting participation from police NHAI officials and the contractor Sharma said During this period we may need to temporarily halt or slow down our workTransporter Harbans Singh Nanade from All India Vahan Chalak Malak Mahasangh raised concerns about the ongoing white topping work on the MumbaiAhmedabad highway questioning the absence of repairs to the service lane for smoother vehicular movement Singh said Ideally the service road should have been repaired before blocking the highway lanes The contractors negligence has resulted in a complete choke on the main carriagewayTraffic cops manning the traffic PicsHanif PatelldquoThe southbound traffic on the highway has been disrupted since Wednesday afternoon A truck driver reportedly is taking seven to eight hours at night to cover a threekilometre stretch from Khaniwade toll naka to Fountain junctionrdquo he added Dahanubased advocate Mahesh Champanerkar stuck in traffic with a group of 17 people in a bus highlighted a 35hour ordeal to cover a threekilometre stretch on Thursday Inspector Ingole recommended using the Naigaon bridge for travel from Vasai to Mumbai as an alternative to MumbaiAhmedabad highwayProject to complete in Apr 2024The ongoing white topping project by the NHAI on the 121kmlong sixlane bituminous carriageway aims to be completed by April next year costing Rs 553 crore The project includes the construction of 10ft overbridges FOBs and three vehicular underpasses VUPs at accidentprone areas like Sativalli Delhi Darbar and PandirangwadiThe urgency for highway improvements arose from Cyrus Mistrys fatal accident After his accident midday highlighted the road design errors and other shortcomings that prompted temporary changes by the NHAI like signboard installations road markings and improved lighting Despite these accidents persisted resulting in approximately 144 casualties on the NH48 highway last year alone as reportedApr 2024Month the white topping work will be completed3 hoursTime taken to cross three kms