Monsoon is magical the time of year when the Konkan region in Maharashtra turns lush green and verdant. As we drive down NH66 from Panvel to Kolad, the vegetation comes alive, birds chirp happily, the early morning mist rolls in and the air smells clean and crisp. With the start of the rains, farmers get busy sowing paddy and as the months go by, the vibrant green paddy fields stretch as far as the eye can see, stopping only at the base of the magnificent Sahyadri Mountain Range.
This sounds idyllic and you can imagine the joy of driving down this beautiful road and soaking in the sights and smells along the way. And of course, make a pitstop or three to savour the wonderful food en route such as the ‘world famous’ Lapeta Chicken and the equally popular Joshi Vadewale, which can be found only on this stretch of highway.
This dreamy-sounding drive is our (almost) weekly route to get to the Farm. The distance from our home to the Farm is 135km. Of this, the first 50-odd kilometres take us out of Mumbai, across the Vashi toll bridge to Navi Mumbai and briefly on NH48 till we reach Panvel. At Panvel, we get onto NH66 and stay on it till a few kilometres after Kolad, when we turn off onto the road-with-no-name and drive another 8km to the Farm. So, do the math. We are on NH66 for about 80km.
To cut a long story short, it’s 80km of pure, unadulterated torture.
The proposed 4-laning of NH66, which was an ambitious project started in 2011 (I believe) by the NHAI, has been implemented on several stretches of the highway save and except our Raigad stretch. Yes, it is a long highway, the 9th longest highway in India, running from Panvel in Maharashtra to Kanyakumari in Tamil Nadu and I believe there are several magnificent and pleasantly motorable stretches along the route. But the stretch from Panvel to Kolad is beyond disastrous.
Newly constructed stretches of road crumble with the first few drops of rain. The sides of the road cave in, and small potholes appear all along the route that mutate into gigantic craters in a matter of days. There is absolutely no maintenance or attempt to repair any of this. At some point last year, a few stretches were fitted with paver blocks! Incredibly stupid if you ask me as the paver blocks came loose in a matter of days. Occasionally, we see a tipper truck full of pebbles driving along and filling the larger craters with tiny pebbles. You can imagine how that turns out as trucks, buses and cars skid and slip across the pebbles throwing up dust storms!
Early one morning a few months ago, we pulled up behind a gaggle of cars that had stopped on the highway. Several people were out of their cars and peering into a particularly large crater that covered the entire width of the road. They were trying to figure out the best way to manoeuvre across the crater. The problem was made worse because the overnight rain had filled the crater with water so there was no way to judge its depth. One brave car tried but got stuck in a particularly deep patch of wet sludge. After they had been pushed across, another driver tried a different route. He managed to get across and kindly stood there shouting instructions while the rest of us followed his tracks in a sombre single file! The crater was so deep, I wouldn’t have been surprised if see someone pull up with a fishing rod! And this is only one episode and one crater that I am describing. Multiply this 100 times each way and you will have some idea of the condition of the road.
They say a picture is worth a thousand words. Well, here are five thousand words….
Our 135km journey which should ideally take us no more than 2.5 hours, now takes us a good 3.5 hours (if we are lucky). Readers of my farm post may remember how Mr Stonethrower and I were pleasantly surprised by how good the highway was when we first went to the Farm, a short two years ago. Alas, we spoke too soon.
I have complained to every possible authority. Tried to involve industries that have factories along that route. Tweeted to Ministers and Highway authorities to highlight the problem. All to no avail. This stretch of Highway has for some reason fallen between the cracks (quite literally) and nobody seems to care. A few days ago, we were so rattled and shattered by the time we reached the Farm, we took a different route back which is 30km longer and maybe 50% better.
Last year, a lawyer who lives in Raigad and commutes to Vashi every day filed a PIL (Public Interest Litigation) in the Bombay High Court. His petition wanted the court to direct the NHAI (National Highways Authority of India) to:
1. Repair the highway damaged during the monsoon
2. To ensure the 4-laning process is completed in a timebound manner.
To his credit, the Court agreed with him and ordered both. But as is evident, the Court’s orders have not been followed. This year, the same lawyer has filed an action against the Highway Authority for contempt. But as far as I can see, the Court has not heard his case so far.
The monsoon is now long over but there is no sign of repair beginning anywhere. We have been forced to reduce our Farm visits to preserve our sanity, our bodies and our car – all of which suffer immensely.
If any of you have any ideas on who we can approach to get NH66 from Panvel to Kolad repaired/re-tarred/made motorable do let me know. Any and all suggestions are welcome.
The Farm continues to delight and amaze us, but I will save that for another day.
Why should authorities turn blind eye to such genuine grievance? Think of those using the road frequently with truck full of heavy goods.
Thanks dad, hope somebody listens
Brave!
Or stupid?