Mumbai-Goa Highway Chaos: 12-Hour Delays

National Highways Authority of India started toll collection at the Kharpada plaza on May 15 on the Mumbai-Goa highway, even though major stretches of the route remain unfinished. By Sunday, traffic had backed up for kilometers in Mangaon-Indapur in Raigad district and near the Shastri bridge at Sangameshwar in Ratnagiri, according to Maharashtra Times. Travelers told the newspaper the journey from Mumbai to Sindhudurg was still taking 10 to 12 hours, undercutting the argument that tolling had begun only after meaningful relief on the corridor. The bottlenecks have sharpened a long-running dispute over whether users should be charged before the four-laning project is complete. ETV Bharat reported on May 16 that pending works still included flyovers at Nagothane and Kolad, roadwork near Sukeli Ghat, and the Mangaon and Indapur bypasses, while service roads in several places were also unfinished. (lokmat.com) ### Why did Sunday’s traffic build up so badly? Maharashtra Times said the worst congestion on Sunday formed on both carriageways toward the Konkan region, with long queues in the Mangaon-Indapur area from the morning onward. The report said bypass work there has been delayed because of a pillar linked to a Konkan Railway bridge, leaving a chronic choke point that worsened over the weekend. (etvbharat.com) Sangameshwar in Ratnagiri also saw congestion near the Shastri bridge, the newspaper reported. Mandar Marathe, a traveler from Sindhudurg quoted by Maharashtra Times, said passengers and tourists faced severe inconvenience in the jam. ### What work is still unfinished on the highway? Ratnagiri district remains one of the central complaints. (maharashtratimes.com) Maharashtra Times reported that the Sangameshwar-to-Hatkhamba section still has work underway on 12 bridges, a point cited by motorists opposing toll collection. Aniket Kamble, a driver from Mangaon quoted by the paper, said imposing tolls while those works remain incomplete was unfair. Other stretches are also incomplete. Lokmat reported that roads, service lanes, flyovers, bridge approaches and safety features were still under construction at multiple points, including Nagothane, Kolad and Indapur, where traffic diversions remain in place. The report also said some sections still have potholes, narrow passages and incomplete concreting. (maharashtratimes.com) ### Why are residents objecting to toll collection now? Kharpada toll collection began before the project was fully finished, and that timing has become the core grievance. Lokmat reported that NHAI began collecting toll on May 15, prompting motorists and Konkan residents to ask why charges were being imposed on an incomplete road. ETV Bharat separately reported that residents, motorists and social organizations said the highway had neither been fully completed nor formally inaugurated. (lokmat.com) Maharashtra Times said the anger deepened because tolling started even as travel times had not materially improved. The newspaper reported that residents in Ratnagiri and Sindhudurg were already mobilizing against more toll plazas, and that Sanjay Sawant of Sindhudurg wrote to elected representatives calling the Kharpada collection a direct burden on Konkan residents while highway work remained unfinished. (lokmat.com) ### What are the toll rules and who may get relief? Lokmat reported that vehicles without FASTag are being charged double toll, while return trips within 24 hours qualify for a discounted rate. The same report said a monthly pass facility has been made available for local residents. Ravindra Ingole, identified by Lokmat as an executive engineer in the national highways department, said demands including relief for local vehicles had been received and would be sent to the highway office for a decision. (maharashtratimes.com) Rajesh Kulkarni, manager of the Kharpada toll plaza, told Lokmat the plaza was being opened for an initial three-month period and that decisions on exemptions would come through the national highways department. (lokmat.com) ### Where could tolling expand next? Maharashtra Times reported that administrative moves are under way to start toll plazas at Hativale in Rajapur in Ratnagiri district and at Kankavli-Osargaon in Sindhudurg district after Kharpada and Khamb. Lokmat Times had reported in March that Kharpada near Pen and Khamb near Roha were the first two designated toll points, with Lohare near Poladpur planned in a later phase. (lokmat.com) Union Minister Nitin Gadkari had earlier said the Mumbai-Goa highway project would be completed by May 31, ETV Bharat reported on May 16. As of the latest reports, however, bridge work, bypasses and service-road gaps were still unresolved, and local objections over tolling and exemptions were still awaiting decisions from highway authorities. (etvbharat.com) (maharashtratimes.com)