Amid heavy rainfall on Friday, traffic across the city was badly hit, as always. The Eastern Express Highway (EEH), between Mulund and Sion, and the Western Express Highway (WEH), between Kandivali and Andheri, witnessed slowing of traffic by 35 minutes. Jogeshwari-Vikhroli Link Road was also affected, resulting in several diversions.
A number of service roads were water-logged from Kandivali to Jogeshwari, resulting in bumper-to-bumper traffic on the WEH. A traffic official said several vehicles broke down due to the downpour. During the day, reports emerged of motorists stuck in traffic for over an hour on the WEH, which was further congested between Andheri and Bandra, adding 20 minutes to travel time.
A Twitter user, CS Jigar Shah shared a video of a waterlogged area near Hub Mall in Goregaon on the WEH, and posted, “Traffic on highway is affected till Kandivali. With locals not permitted, people are going to get stuck in-between. #Mumbairains. It can be worse later in the day today due to high tide.”
Similar congestion was witnessed on the EEH, where vehicles were queued up for hours on the Sion Panvel Highway. The worst-hit patch on the EEH was near Sion, where water-logging in low-lying areas brought traffic to a complete halt. The jam was cleared only after water was pumped out with machines.
Meanwhile, on JVLR, traffic snarls were seen up to Majas Depot. Similar chaos was experienced on the Santacruz-Chembur Link Road, with vehicles stuck near Chembur for close to two hours.
