Mumbai-Ahmedabad Highway Crumbles Despite ₹600 Crore Spend, Commuter Safety At Risk
Palghar, Maharashtra: Despite a staggering expenditure of ₹600 crore, the Mumbai-Ahmedabad National Highway continues to pose a severe risk to commuters due to substandard construction. The stretch from Achhad to Ghodbunder remains in a broken and hazardous condition, frustrating thousands of daily travelers and raising serious concerns over the misuse of public funds.
Originally designed as a bitumen road, the highway was slated for an upgrade to a concrete white-topping surface, intended to enhance durability and safety. However, the work executed under this plan has drawn widespread criticism for its poor quality. The inadequately maintained road now causes vehicles to jolt violently, leading to increased wear and tear and posing significant safety threats.
The Mumbai-Ahmedabad highway is a vital corridor connecting Maharashtra and Gujarat. In response to its worsening condition, authorities launched a major redevelopment project to revamp the 120-kilometer stretch between Ghodbunder and Achhad with concrete surfacing. The plan also included the construction of four flyovers and nine pedestrian overpasses. Work commenced in December 2023 under the supervision of the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI). However, during the construction process, the highway was left in a severely dilapidated condition. It was during this period of disrepair that industrialist Cyrus Mistry and co-passenger Jehangir Pandole lost their lives when their car collided with the boundary wall of the Surya River bridge. The incident that happened in September 2022 sparked national outrage and highlighted the urgent need for safety improvements.
Yet, those measures appear to have had little impact. In 2023 alone, the Palghar stretch recorded 182 accidents, resulting in 106 deaths and 64 serious injuries. Despite relocating the NHAI project office from Surat to Thane to better manage this critical section of the highway, the road's condition continues to deteriorate.
Alarmingly, the newly laid concrete roads have already begun developing potholes, even before the project's full completion. Attempts to patch up the damage using micro-concrete and epoxy solutions have also failed within weeks. Over 10,000 blocks, each measuring 4 square feet, had to be earmarked for emergency repairs. The rapid failure of these high-grade materials has exposed the poor quality of both the initial highway construction and the subsequent repair work.
Moreover, the concrete surface, far from being a safety improvement, has reportedly contributed to a rise in accidents. Uneven surfaces have led to tire bursts, particularly among heavy vehicles. From January to December 2024 alone, there were 82 accidents resulting in 83 deaths, with 148 others sustaining major and minor injuries in other accidents.
Despite paying steep tolls, motorists now face a commute that feels more like navigating a rugged off-road trail than traveling a national highway. Many complain that their daily commute now feels more like an off-road challenge than a smooth national highway drive. The commuters are demanding accountability from both the contractors and the NHAI, calling for an immediate investigation and swift corrective action.
What was intended as a vital infrastructure upgrade has now become a symbol of public frustration and administrative negligence. Calls are growing louder for an immediate inquiry and urgent rectification of the highway to prevent further loss of life and financial waste.
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