Mumbai: Damage on Amar Mahal Bridge brings traffic on Eastern Express Highway to a standstill

On Saturday night, Mumbai commuters were in for a major shock when they were stuck in a never-ending traffic jam on the Eastern Express Highway. While it usually takes 15 minutes to travel from Matunga to Ghatkopar, it took around an hour-and-a-half to traverse the same distance.

A part of the Amar Mahal Bridge was reportedly damaged and according to an official of the RTO, emergency repair was being carried out.  Jayesh Bhavad, a Ghatkopar resident said it took him an hour-and-a-half to go from Matunga to Ghatkopar. Despite the incident, commuters were left to their own devices and no alternative arrangements were made by the traffic police. 

Meanwhile, another official of the RTO refused to confirm the extent of the damages and claimed regular maintenance work was going on

Commuters complain of a massive traffic jam on the Eastern Express Highway. Amar Mahal Bridge suffers damage pic.twitter.com/XAiLGx60SZ

— DNA (@dna) April 8, 2017

Mumbai citizens were also up in arms and took to Twitter to vent their displeasure. 

Managing Traffic in mumbai is not possible by the Traffic police. On seeing EEH

— MumbaiWoes (@MumbaiWoes) April 8, 2017

Traffic in eastern express highway leading to jams in arterial roads too at sion kurla chembur and ghatkopar @RidlrMUM @mumbaitraffic

— Sunanda (@sunson_86) April 8, 2017

Heavy traffic on eastern express highway. No intimation by T.police.
Govt should pay my extra rentals.@CMOMaharashtra @MumbaiPolice

— Santosh Hulawale (@drsantosh_h) April 8, 2017

Amar Mahal flyover EEH traffic jam. Vehicles piled up to Priyadarshani 11PM. @RidlrMUM @TrafflineMUM @Traffline @mtptraffic @ChemburInfo pic.twitter.com/1nLJnOWg1K

— Sunil Ghate (@SunilGhate1) April 8, 2017

Avoid Eastern Express highway northbound at all cost. Amar Mahal flyover shut.

No cops to guide the mess. @MumbaiPolice @smart_mumbaikar

— Archeet N (@archeetn) April 8, 2017