Commuters face traffic snarls on Maharashtra's Ghodbunder Highway due to potholes and heavy vehicles

THANE: Commuters travelling to Mumbai, Nashik, and Gujarat using the Ghodbunder Highway faced yet another harrowing time since Wednesday morning. Potholes and a sudden influx of heavy vehicles coming from connecting highways, including wrong lane jumping by a few motorists, led to massive snarls.The snarls affected both lanes of the highway, starting from Chinchoti Phata on the Ahmedabad Highway to Gaimukh on the Thane fringes, which soon extended to Manpada within the city limits. This affected the movement of not just outbound but also city traffic. Authorities, including Thane and Mira-Bhayender police, attempted to manage the traffic, but the huge volume of vehicles made it challenging for the authorities, said a senior traffic police officer manning the stretch.The situation was compounded by vehicles moving in the wrong direction. “Several school and private fleet buses were seen taking the wrong lanes in a bid to escape the traffic jams but instead added to the congestion. It took us nearly an hour to cross over the Ghodbunder Highway from Gaimukh to Manpada,” said a commuter.Meanwhile, activists pointed out how, despite repeated repair attempts over the last few months on the Ghodbunder Highway, the situation remains unresolved, complained regular motorists.