Bhiwandi’s Roads Are Straight Out of the Moon

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00:00Dear viewers, imagine this.

00:02You are riding back home after a long day at work.

00:05The rain has just stopped.

00:06The road is wet but manageable.

00:08Suddenly, your scooter hits a crater-sized pothole.

00:12You lose balance, skin, and before you even get up,

00:15a truck crushes you under its wheels.

00:18This isn't a scene from a nightmare.

00:20This is Bhivandi's daily reality.

00:22Over the past few weeks alone,

00:23multiple lives have been lost to these killer potholes.

00:26Doctors, students, senior citizens, nobody is spared.

00:30And here is the thing.

00:31Bhivandi is not just any town.

00:33It is Asia's biggest logistic hub.

00:35It powers India's economy, fuels e-commerce,

00:38connects Maharashtra to Gujarat,

00:39and employs nearly 17 lakh workers.

00:42Yet the very roads that carry billions worth of goods every single day

00:46are broken, cratered, and deadly.

00:48So the question is,

00:49how did a city so crucial to India's economy

00:52become a death trap for its own people?

00:54Who is responsible for this collapse?

00:56And why is nobody being held accountable

00:58even as lives are lost every week?

01:01Let's break it down in this video.

01:02Hello, I am Tejas and you are watching

01:04Honest Take on Lokhmad Times.

01:06Before we jump into today's topic,

01:07please do subscribe to our channel if you haven't already

01:10and press the bell icon to never miss an update.

01:12The face of this crisis is not just a number.

01:15It's people, with names, with families,

01:17with unfinished dreams.

01:19Take Dr. Mohamed Naseem Ansari.

01:20On August 23rd, 2025,

01:22this 58-year-old BAMS doctor

01:24was returning home near the APJ Abdul Kalam bridge

01:28at Banzar Patti Naka.

01:29His scooter hit a pothole.

01:31He fell.

01:32And in seconds,

01:33a truck's rear wheel crushed him.

01:35A respected doctor gone.

01:37Family shattered.

01:38And a city pushed into fresh outrage.

01:40But this wasn't the first death.

01:42Just weeks earlier, on July 30th,

01:44a 17-year-old boy died after his motorcycle

01:47was thrown off balance

01:48by a pothole on Bhivandi-Wada Road.

01:50His death triggered angry street protests.

01:53And earlier this year,

01:54Ayyad Shamli, 20-year-old software engineer,

01:57died after his scooter crashed into a pothole

01:59on the Mumbai-Nashik Highway in Bhivandi.

02:02One city, one year,

02:04too many funerals.

02:05If Bhivandi's roads were patients in an ICU,

02:08the diagnosis would read,

02:09critical and collapsing.

02:11Mostly all of roads in Bhivandi

02:13and adjoining areas are in poor state.

02:15But there are some all-off famers.

02:17The first one being the Bhivandi-Wada Road.

02:19The 15-kilometer death trap.

02:21This road is infamous.

02:22A key artery for freight,

02:24but also a graveyard for motorists.

02:26Despite thousands of crores spent,

02:28the 15-kilometer stretch is littered with potholes

02:3115-20 feet wide and nearly 1.5 feet deep.

02:35Trucks now avoid this road altogether.

02:37But two wheelers and small vehicles have no choice.

02:40The next is APJ Abdul Kalam Bridge,

02:42Vanzar Pattinaka.

02:43This isn't just a busy junction.

02:45With gaping cracks between paver blocks and concrete

02:47and heavy vehicles rerouted here

02:49because of ongoing flyover repairs,

02:52the danger multiplies every single day.

02:54The next,

02:55Bhivandi-Kalyan Road.

02:56A 25-kilometer stretch full of craters.

02:58This is where 1.5-2 lakh vehicles pass daily.

03:02Cars, buses, tempos, trucks.

03:04Imagine that traffic crawling,

03:06dodging foot-dip potholes.

03:07It's a miracle more people don't die here every week.

03:10And next,

03:11the usual suspect.

03:12Godbandar Road in Thane section.

03:14How long should we keep shouting from the rooftop

03:16that this road is the worst?

03:19Kazupada,

03:19Chenna Bridge,

03:20Kasar-Vadavali.

03:21Every commuter knows these names.

03:24These spots are notorious for waterlogged,

03:26pothole field,

03:27nightmares.

03:28Over a lakh people suffer here daily.

03:30The truth is,

03:31in Dhivandi,

03:32roads aren't connectors anymore.

03:34They are weapons.

03:35And citizens are the collateral damage.

03:36Now,

03:37here is why this isn't just a local tragedy.

03:40Vivandi is Asia's largest logistics hub.

03:42Let that sink in.

03:44Around 30,000 to 60,000 warehouses are based here.

03:47E-commerce giants like Amazon,

03:49Flipkart,

03:49and global brands

03:50like BMW and Samsung

03:52depend on Vivandi's roads for their supply chain.

03:55The scale is massive.

03:56Business worth Rs. 20,000 crore every month

03:59flows through these routes.

04:0017 lakh people are directly employed

04:02in logistics and manufacturing.

04:04Its location is unbeatable.

04:0530 km from Mumbai,

04:0740 km from airport,

04:0960 km from JNPT port.

04:11In short,

04:11if Vivandi stops,

04:13India's economy limps.

04:14And that's exactly what is happening.

04:16Truckers now report that journeys

04:17that should take 45 minutes

04:19stretch into 2-3 hours

04:20because of broken roads.

04:22Some companies are quietly reducing trips.

04:24Imagine the ripple effect on everything

04:26from online shopping

04:27to industrial supply chains.

04:29So when a doctor dies on a pothole,

04:30it's not just a personal tragedy.

04:32It's also a symbol of systematic collapse

04:34that threatens India's logistics backbone.

04:37After Dr. Ansari's death,

04:39outrage spilled onto the streets

04:40and only then did the authorities act.

04:42On August 23rd,

04:43the administration announced

04:45an immediate ban on heavy vehicles

04:47entering Vivandi via

04:48Vanzarpatti Naka,

04:49Ranzanoli,

04:50Anzurpata,

04:51and Taravali.

04:52A drastic move,

04:53but also an admission of complete failure.

04:55Meanwhile,

04:56the Vivandi Nizampur Musical Corporation

04:58BNMC

04:59boasts of big budget.

05:01Rupees 1,097 crore allocated for 2025-26.

05:05Rupees 108 crore for just roads.

05:07Rupees 700 crore specifically

05:09for Vivandi-Wada Road overall.

05:11Announcements of Rupees 1,000 crore

05:13investments in infrastructure.

05:14But here is the uncomfortable fact.

05:16Despite thousands of crore sanctioned,

05:19the road still looks like war zones.

05:21Citizens are asking,

05:22where is this money going?

05:23Anger is boiling.

05:24Locals have staged

05:25Rastaroko protests

05:26across 12 locations.

05:28Slogan ring out,

05:29will you only act

05:30after more deaths.

05:31MLA Raish Sheikh

05:32has demanded FIRs

05:33against negligent civic officials.

05:35Rupees 25 lakh compensation

05:37for Dr. Ransari's family.

05:39And he won a dedicated

05:40engineering task force.

05:41Here is my honest take.

05:43Vivandi's roads are not just broken.

05:45They are a mirror to a broken system.

05:47Lives are being lost every week.

05:49Doctors, students, elders.

05:51And still,

05:51excuses are made.

05:52Budgets are announced.

05:53Contractors are paid.

05:55But on the ground,

05:56citizens are left to navigate

05:57a minefield every single day.

05:59A city that powers India's economy

06:01is bleeding because of something

06:02as basic as roads.

06:04So the next time a politician promises

06:06a trillion dollar economy

06:07or a world class infrastructure,

06:09ask them this.

06:10If Vivandi,

06:11the logistics backbone of India,

06:13cannot even ensure safe roads

06:14for its people,

06:16what future are we really building?

06:17Because until accountability is real,

06:19until officials face FIRs,

06:21until budgets translate

06:22into actual safe roads,

06:24Vivandi will remain what it is today,

06:26a death trap.

06:27And citizens will keep paying

06:28the price for their lives.

06:30That's all for today's honest take

06:31with me, Tejas.

06:32Until next time,

06:33stay sharp,

06:33stay curious,

06:34and never stop asking tough questions.

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