Unauthorised vendors beyond Dahisar add to NH-8 problems

MUMBAI: Driving on the Mumbai-Ahmedabad national highway at Mira Road and Bhayander is a nightmare for revellers leaving the city or motorists who use the stretch regularly. There is a major bottleneck after the Dahisar check naka due to the random parking of heavy vehicles and illegal fruit and vegetable vendors.
The stretch from Dahisar check naka to Fountain hotel junction at Ghodbunder Road, has been encroached on by stalls.Motorists are caught in snarls on this narrow stretch as vehicles driving down to Mumbai halt at the illegal stalls.
“Illegal stalls are mushrooming along the highway and is adding to the chaos on the narrow road,” said Arup Modi, who takes the route daily to his workplace in Vasai. In the absence of a service road, the traffic snarls often extend for 30 to 45 minutes.
Coupled with the random parking of heavy vehicles near the Dahisar check naka, it has nearly blocked that stretch of the highway. “For the past month or so, drivers are abandoning their trucks and tempos in the middle of the road. Traffic police have no clue whom the vehicle belongs to,” said Raman Lad, a motorist. Drivers often leave their vehicles on the road as they settle octroi issues.
Motorists say besides regulating heavy vehicles, the stalls need to be removed on a priority before they become permanent structures. On the highway at Kashimira, illegal stalls have already turned into proper shops. While vehicles using the bridge are unaffected, vehicles driving from Mira-Bhayander get caught in traffic at the junction.
Fruit and vegetable stalls have come up for three to four months now, but the Mira Bhayander Municipal Corporation has not touched encroachers. Civic officials said highway encroachments are the responsibility of the Highway Authority of India and they can act only when they get a nod from the central agency.