Mumbai: As the Mumbai-Ahmedabad highway traffic enters 5th consecutive day, due to ongoing traffic issues on the Mumbai-Ahmedabad Highway (NH-48), several schools in Mumbai have postponed their picnics to Vasai until after Diwali.
A netizen compares what was once a smooth 9-hour drive from Mumbai to Udaipur to now a 19-hour ordeal, according to a viral post by an X user Sandip Sabharwal. His revelation about the worsening condition of the Mumbai–Ahmedabad Highway (NH-48) has ignited a wave of public anger, with citizens across India lamenting the crumbling state of the country’s roads and the absence of accountability.
Sabharwal shared that his nephew and a friend were stranded for over five hours near Vasai after a section of NH-48 was closed for repairs, forcing them to endure nearly double the travel time. “Bad state of affairs overall,” he wrote, tagging Union Minister Nitin Gadkari and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. This statement has since snowballed into a larger conversation about India’s road infrastructure crisis.
Netizens flooded social media with stories of missed flights, hours-long standstills, and unending repair works. Many said the Mumbai–Ahmedabad highway has been in poor condition for over three years despite hefty toll collections. One commuter described the route as “always in futuristic mode, some or the other repair, but never completion.”
Several users questioned how a vital national corridor could remain perpetually broken despite years of construction. “It’s been getting worse every year,” said one commuter who now prefers trains over road travel, noting that a drive from Mumbai to Vapi that once took four hours now takes nearly seven.
Others drew comparisons with highways in other states. “Even the Bengaluru–Chennai route faces the same fate — endless overbridge work, no planning, no timelines,” wrote another user, pointing out that the delays are now nationwide.
Citizens also voiced frustration over rising tolls, calling them “a tax for suffering.” Some sarcastically commented that the government seemed more focused on ethanol policies than road safety. “We pay more tolls, face more potholes, and spend more time on the road,” one user wrote.
Anil Garg, chairman of the Educational Tour Operators Association, indicated that over 20 schools made this decision following a significant incident involving two buses carrying 64 students from Kandivali that were delayed for two hours while traveling from Nashik.
Recently, more than 500 students and commuters were stranded for nearly 12 hours due to a massive traffic jam, including students returning from a picnic at Great Escape Water Park. The usual travel time of two to three hours for the 70 km trip extended until 6 a.m. the next day, prompting widespread concern.
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