The Maharashtra government on Monday directed officials to fill all the potholes across the State before October 15, after facing criticism over the pothole-filled roads and the subsequent traffic jams on the roads leading to Mumbai.

The move comes a day after Eknath Shinde, the Guardian Minister of Thane district, formed a task force to to solve the issue.

Manoj Saunik, the Additional Chief Secretary of the Public Works Department (PWD), issued a direction to the authorities on Monday to fill the potholes using tar before October 15.

Maharashtra has national highways spanning over 18,000 km, which are constructed and maintained jointly by the PWD, the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) and the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC).

“The highways in the State had been damaged due to very heavy rainfall between September 19 and 23, especially the Mumbai-Nasik and the Mumbai-Goa highways. Potholes on these two highways as well as on other roads in the State should be filled before October 15,” Mr. Saunik said.

Directions had also been issued to device a master plan to take immediate action in the case of damage to the highways. All senior officials were being directed to personally monitor the progress of the work.

Meanwhile, several measures were announced to sort traffic jams on the roads entering Mumbai. All heavy vehicles would be denied entry into Thane city between 12 p.m. and 4 p.m., and temporary parking lots had been set up to manage the traffic of heavy vehicles at Navi Mumbai, Padgha and Palghar.