India, Dec. 15 -- Thane's traffic congestion appears to be a vicious cycle where prolonged traffic jams put severe stress on vehicles leading to mechanical failures and breakdowns on busy roads. To add to the congestion, the traffic police's lack of towing vans causes delays in clearing broken-down vehicles, leading to further traffic snarls that leave Thane's arterial routes clogged for hours.

Between January 1 and December 12 this year, the Thane City Traffic Branch received 2,754 calls reporting vehicle breakdowns. Of these, 2,079 vehicles were towed using cranes arranged through the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC). Since these cranes are deployed for work on the Samruddhi Mahamarg, the Mumbai Nagpur Expressway,...