Palghar, Jul 3 (PTI) A crater with exposed iron reinforcement bars on the heavily-patronised Mumbai-Ahmedabad national highway caused damage to at least 15 vehicles in as many minutes in the intervening night of Thursday and Friday, police and civic officials in Palghar district said.
The crater was formed near the Mahalaxmi stretch on the Mumbai-bound lane of the arterial route due to incessant rains in the region over the past few days, they added.
The rains caused the concrete surface to peel away, exposing sharp iron reinforcement bars, also called rebars, resulting in damage to vehicles that were unable to spot the crater in time, the officials informed.
A driver said his vehicle suffered two tyre bursts after it hit the crater at around 60 kilometres per hour and then rammed into some other vehicles ahead.
“After being alerted, a team rushed to the spot in the intervening night of Thursday and Friday and found five to six vehicles with punctured tyres due to the pothole and the protruding rods. The large pothole has now been filled,” Kasa police station inspector Amar Patil told PTI.
The tehsildar of the area was asked to take corrective action, said Palghar disaster management cell chief Vivekanand Kadam, adding the route has now been normalised for traffic.
Residents of the area and activists slammed the administration, saying the highway had undergone a Rs 650 crore ‘white-topping’ (concrete layering) renovation recently. PTI COR BNM
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