Click to play videoMumbai: The Maximum City got its first rains around July 7 and since then the Eastern Express Highway has seen more than 200 accidents. The latest happened on Sunday, taking the death toll up to six.
The authorities say the newly-laid surface of the road gets slippery in the rain, causing vehicles to skid.
“The road surface is too slippery, the metal filings are absent or have sunk to the bottom. We had been telling them since March but they did not do anything about it,” says DCP, Traffic, Harish Baijal.
But the MMRDA, who built the road, is quick to pass the buck onto the motorists themselves.
“It’s not only because of the mastic asphalt but also because of the roads and people drive too fast,” says Commissioner, MMRDA, Ratnakar Gaikwad.
Even as the blame game continues between different government agencies, citizen groups have filed a case against the contractor who built the road. The courts have asked the police to submit its report by July 24.
The MMRDA has already started work on the roads in an attempt to make the surface rougher and the commuters can only hope that driving becomes a little safer.
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