Don't let heavy vehicles enter Thane during peak hours: Locals

As if the closure of Mumbra bypass was not enough, now work of Mumbai Metro has added to traffic snarls on the road. As a result, Thanekars want heavy vehicles including trucks and buses to be banned from Thane roads during peak hours. The traffic police, however, maintains that while heavy vehicles are not allowed, they cannot stop trucks and buses from plying on city roads.

Anand Mathur (name changed) works as a senior executive in a Prabhadevi firm and stays in Kandivli. His daily commute by car from Kandivali to office has now extended to three-and-a-half to four hours due to ongoing metro work. As a result, he now commutes via Ghodbunder (GB) road of Thane. "The heavy vehicles occupy the first lane on the Eastern Express Highway, leading to traffic jams," he says. "And I cannot think of commuting by train during peak hours as even the first class compartment is heavily crammed up," he adds.

Another Thane resident Renee Varghese says, "The load of vehicles have been diverted to Thane due to the closure of bypass, even those from western suburbs are driving through our city. But these heavy vehicles which are on our city roads 24x7 are creating a mess."

Varghese says that entry of vehicles should be banned in Thane during peak hours, that is, from 7 am to 11 am and from 5 pm to 9 pm. "I took the issue to Thane traffic police, but I didn't receive any response," he adds.

When contacted Amit Kale, deputy commissioner of police, Thane traffic, says that heavy vehicles are not allowed during peak hours. However, he added, "We cannot stop buses as they are a means of public transport and trucks are not heavy vehicles."