Thane’s arterial corridors descended into gridlock on Friday as repair work at Gaimukh Ghat and multiple diversion orders paralysed traffic flow on the Mumbra-Kharegaon and Thane-Ghodbunder stretches. Commuters reported delays exceeding an hour for distances usually covered in under 20 minutes, with heavy vehicles facing the worst brunt of the congestion.
According to traffic authorities, the choke points extended from the Kharegaon toll plaza to Kausa and along the Mumbra bypass, worsened by road patching works covering 300–400-metre stretches between Kajupada and Nira Kendra. Officials said the volume of heavy vehicles from Navi Mumbai, Mahape, and Dombivli heading towards Ghodbunder Road intensified the pile-up, especially as thousands of trucks from JNPT Port transit through the Gaimukh Ghat corridor daily en route to Gujarat. The ongoing repair work prompted authorities to divert heavy vehicles through the Mumbai–Nashik Highway via Kharegaon toll naka. However, road-widening projects on this alternate route compounded the congestion, turning the diversions into bottlenecks themselves. Long lines of stalled trucks and buses became a common sight through the day, with local traffic spilling over into internal roads, bringing neighbourhood movement to a crawl.
Thane Traffic Police confirmed a complete restriction on heavy vehicle movement along the Gaimukh Ghat section from midnight on 8 August until 5 a.m. on 11 August to allow asphalt and bitumen layering. Alternative routing was announced via Kapurbawdi, Kasheli, Majiwada, Kharegaon, Mankoli, and Anjur Phata. Heavy vehicles from Mumbai and Thane bound for Ghodbunder Road were being held at V Junction and Kapurbawdi Junction, while those from Mumbra and Kalwa were stopped at Kharegaon Toll Naka before being redirected. Transport sector observers warned that the congestion underscored the city’s chronic dependence on a few arterial corridors with limited redundancy. “Repair work is inevitable, but without phased scheduling, integrated planning, and coordination between civic and traffic departments, the disruption is amplified,” one urban mobility expert said. The situation also raised concerns about the environmental cost, with idling vehicles contributing to heightened emissions and poor roadside air quality, particularly harmful for pedestrians and two-wheeler riders caught in the jams.
In recent years, Thane has seen a spurt in infrastructure upgrades, but simultaneous execution of multiple projects has repeatedly resulted in crippling traffic snarls. With key routes like Ghodbunder Road, Mumbra Bypass, and the Mumbai–Nashik Highway interlinked, even localised repair activity often ripples into citywide disruption. Authorities said the repair work was scheduled to conclude within three days, after which regular traffic flow is expected to resume. Until then, motorists have been advised to plan additional travel time, use alternative public transport where possible, and avoid peak-hour transits through affected stretches.
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