Poor roads mark of Thakur Village

Kandivli’s Thakur Village is what dreams are made of. It boasts of a mega mall with a glass-and-chrome edifice, the best brands vie with each other for your attention, the finest eateries, landscaped gardens and homes with the finest amenities — this upscale neighbourhood in the western suburbs offers all the trappings of a good life. The only eyesore: potholes which make getting in and out of this paradise a drudgery.

“The access road is so bad that even travelling by a rickshaw is a back-breaking experience,” complained Naresh Tharyani, a resident of NG Suncity-Phase III.
And as if to prove right Murphy’s Law that bad things can only take a turn for the worse, the lone BEST bus that plies up till Suncity - 287 - is infrequent.

“Though Borivli and Kandivli are equidistant, we have a bus only for Kandivli, which serves little purpose for regular commuters who have to take the train to work,” said Tharyani, adding that the condition of the roads is so bad that most autos refuse to ply in the area, leaving the locals stranded at the bus stop.
And if negotiating the roads in the day isn’t tough enough, the dark is the new bogeyman for the residents since the Farid Estate section does not even have street lights.

“Taking advantage of this, people from nearby slums park their trucks along the road and anti-social elements rule the roost later in the night,” said Sanjog Mhatre, a resident of Phase-I.
So what’s stopping the authorities from taking up road repair work in this areas where 2BHK apartments easily cost Rs1 crore? It’s a reported confusion over the ownership of stretches of roads.

While some sections are still under the private ownership of developers like the RNA Group and the Bhoomi Group, which are still developing housing complexes, others fall under the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC). “The two keep passing the buck while the residents continue to suffer,” alleges Mhatre.

BMC representatives, however, claim that initiatives are being taken to resolve the situation despite the limitations. “Whenever we repair the roads, some utility service provider or the other digs up the road for laying cables and leaves it in a bad shape,” said local MNS corporator Kshitija Pujare. She claims that she is in talks with the civic administration to install paver blocks on the remaining stretches.

Pujare adds that the corporation has already sanctioned Rs11 crore for concretisation of the entire main road leading to Thakur Village.