Three agencies maintain NH 17, or the Mumbai-Goa highway; while none can ensure a decent road, they eagerly demand tolls for a rickety ride
Three agencies maintain NH 17, or the Mumbai-Goa highway; while none can ensure a decent road, they eagerly demand tolls for a rickety ride
Beginning its final leg of the highway series, MiD DAY started out on the Mumbai-Goa highway, also known as NH 17, and reached as far as the Vashi toll naka in comfort, where the bone-grinding ride began. 
ROCKY RIDE: A pothole-ridden Goa highway before Vadkhal naka en
route Alibaug. PIC/SURESH KK
The four-lane road between Vashi and Kharpada toll naka was riddled with craters and is known for mishaps.
Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) oversees the Vashi toll naka and charges Rs 30 as toll tax. The IRB Infrastructure firm collects Rs 10 as toll at Kharpada.
Both parties are prompt to counter any talk of the roads being riddled with potholes. "We have maintained the roads that fall under our jurisdiction. We collect toll across the Patalganga river which covers an area of 1.7 km," claimed Virendra Mhaiskar, CMD, IRB Infrastructure. The MSRDC, on its part, also claims it has maintained roads in sterling condition, but photographs tell a different story altogether.
As MiD DAY progressed further towards Cheetah village and the Balawali fruit market, the navigable part of the road seemed to become narrower with every 100 metres with potholes forcing the traffic to scrunch up and move in single file. "We see a lot of accidents on this road daily. The pliable area of the road gets so narrow that vehicles frequently run into our fruit stalls," said Navjivan, a fruit vendor.
The bridge on the Bhagwati River, after the village, has rusted and its edges are crumbling. Further down is a village called Pen, from where two kilometres of 'road' is merely a patchwork of potholes.u00a0
There's more
The worst begins with the next naka of Vadkhal, which is supposed to be a major transit junction connecting Alibaug and Goa. A klick of ditches away from Vadkhal comes the Dharamtar Creek toll naka, charging Rs 13 for a round trip to Alibaug from Mumbai. But the roads have neither been repaired nor maintained.
"Everytime we undertake reparation, the road gets damaged due to water logging," said an employee at the Dharamtar Creek toll naka, maintained by Patwardhan Infrastructure.
Incidentally, this naka is situated a stone's throw from Ispat Industries. But, the road on which it stands is itself running to seed.
Finally, there comes the turn of the Alibaug Nagar Parishad to extort what is supposed to be an environmental fee (Paryavaran Niyantran Swachchta Shulk) of "Rs 10 only, Sir!" The fee is ostensibly charged to ensure that Alibaug remains environmentally safe and clean. But tourists beg to differ.u00a0u00a0
"We don't understand why the Parishad extorts this so-called environmental fee. Their roads are in disrepair, so vehicles give off more smoke. In fact, vehicular fumes are all one can smell here. Of course, the less said about the cleanliness, the better," said Dharam Sahoo, a tourist passing through the road.u00a0
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| Voices |
| After MiD DAY started its series on the legitimacy of toll collection for bad highways, commuters have begun sending in their experiences. Here are a few: Kapil Jain, Mira Road Shriniwas Dukhande, Vasant Vihar |
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