As heavy rains returned to the city with thunderstorms and flashes of lightning, this Sunday didn’t feel like a much relaxing holiday for people commuting via the Mumbai roads.
From the Western Express Highway (WEH) to the Vakola Flyer and even the Andheri Subway, there were several waterlogging reports due to heavy rains on Saturday night and Sunday morning across the city.
“It was Ganpati, and for working people like us, Sundays are the only day we get to actually celebrate by visiting our relatives’ houses or for pandal-hoppings. We started from our home in the morning around 8:30, but got stuck at WEH for more than 30 minutes due to traffic congestion in the entire stretch,” said a resident of Andheri, who didn’t wish to reveal her name.
The Vakola flyer, which reportedly also has several potholes, with rains and waterlogging traffic tends to get worse, especially during the peak hours of the day.
Another resident, who was travelling on the Santacruz Airport Road at WEH experienced a similar experience on Sunday morning.
“For once we (the entire family) thought we would skip the train as we all travel by train for work from Monday to Friday, so we booked a private cab to travel instead. But, as unfortunate as it can get, we got stuck near the Airport for a long time due to traffic. I think it was due to waterlogging, not sure, but we were supposed to reach in 1 hour, we took almost 1 hour, 50 minutes to reach our destination,” said Sankalp Shyam, a resident of Jogeshwari.
Similarly, there was similar slow traffic reported near Sahara Star Hotel Junction and Vakola. Meanwhile, the Andheri subway, which connects the east and west parts of the suburb, was closed due to waterlogging. The traffic police tweeted through their Twitter account saying, “Due to 2 feet waterlogging at Netaji Palkar Chowk, the Andheri subway is closed for traffic. Kindly use an alternate route for the commute.”
According to DN Nagar Traffic officials, the traffic was diverted to SV Road for two hours till the water was drained from the subway and opened again for the traffic.
At the Jogeshwari-Vikhroli Link Road, a truck was reported to be overturned during the afternoon, causing traffic in the Panchkutir Ganesh Nagar area in Powai.
On a good note, the traffic situation at Saki Naka was surprisingly better and clear, reported the commuters. “The last time I had seen Saki Naka so empty and traffic-free was during the pandemic – lockdown. It was an unbelievable sight today, just a magical drive experience that happens once in a while,” said a rather happy commuter, Jignesh Shah, a resident of Marol.
