NAVI MUMBAI: Incessant rains in July have exposed the shoddy condition of the arterial Sion-Panvel Highway. And after dusk, several stretches along the highway are plunged into darkness due to defunct streetlights.
Motorists are aghast over the deplorable state of the 10-lane, 25-km highway between BARC and Kalamboli which was re-laid six years ago.
"The Sion-Panvel Highway, a key connector between Mumbai and the southern states, was renovated in 2015 at a cost of Rs 1, 230 crore. And yet motorists complain of potholes and non-functional streetlights. Despite the intervention of the high court, the PWD failed to resolve the problems. This issue needs to be redressed at the highest level in the government.-TimesView"
The Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC) has evinced interest in maintaining the streetlights on a major portion of the highway, but the state public works department (PWD) is reluctant to accept the offer as that would mean allowing the civic body rights to advertise on the highway. Even as the state cabinet has approved the proposal to transfer streetlight maintenance to the NMMC, the PWD is dragging its feet on the issue.
NMMC city engineer Sanjay Desai said, “The PWD has assured us that it will respond to our offer in a week’s time. A joint survey has already been done and it was found that over a hundred streetlights are non-operational.”
NMMC commissioner Abhijit Bangar said the PWD should clear all power bill dues before handing over the streetlight maintenance task. “I had a word with higher ups in the PWD and hope the issue will be resolved soon,” he added.
When contacted, PWD executive engineer Omprakash Pardeshi said, “Our teams are on toes to fix the potholes in certain patches . NMMC’s offer to take over the streetlight maintenance is being discussed at the highest level since the civic body is asking for advertisement rights.” PWD secretary Ulhas Debadwar told TOI, “We will soon take a call on the streetlight issue; it is being examined by the chief engineer concerned.”
Navi Mumbai deputy commissioner of police (traffic) Purushottam Karad has also written to the PWD, MSRDC and MMRDA highlighting the battered condition of the highway and to improve lighting.
