Mumbai: The Eastern Freeway has become a dangerous road to use. This is because of laxity on the part of the Mumbai Metropolitan Regional Development Authority (MMRDA), which has built this 16.8km road and is also tasked with maintaining it.
For the past couple of weeks, MMRDA has commenced repair work inside the tunnels that are closer to the Chembur-end of the road. Barricades have been placed and steel pipes have been erected inside the tunnel, especially on the south-bound segment. However, these are not lit. This is compounded by the fact that the overhead lighting fails often. As a result, there is every possibility of an accident.
MMRDA's maintenance work proved risky for commuters
On Tuesday night, around 11.30pm, MMRDA undertook the work of filling large pots placed on the divider with red earth. A plastic barricade was placed right on the road without any lighting. Many motorists avoided colliding into it by sheer presence of mind. The pots have bougainvillea plants in them.
“Certainly, the work of filling earth could have been carried out during the day,” SR Bhuvan, a regular user of the road, observed. Even after the work was complete, the plastic barrier could still be seen on the road on Wednesday night. For a long time, commuters have been complaining about poor lighting within the tunnels and also on the road while approaching them on both south-bound and north-bound sections.
