Mumbai Traffic Police unprepared for Ganpati rush

Mumbai: The Mumbai Traffic Police’s unpreparedness for the Ganpati festival was highlighted on Thursday, costing commuters hours of travel time. Several commuters said it took them more than two hours to cover a distance of 10 km.
Chandrashekhar Singh, a taxi driver for 20 years, said it took him four hours to go from Crawford Market to Church Road in Andheri East to drop a passenger on Thursday evening, despite taking the Mumbai Coastal Road and the Bandra-Worli Sea Link. “It took me another two hours to reach my home in Santacruz. My feet started aching, but I could not even leave the passenger midway as she had boxes for Ganpati decoration,” he said.
While the Mumbai Traffic Police had issued an advisory on road restrictions and alternate routes, officers said the situation on Thursday evening was the worst they had seen in days. Although they factored in that activities like shopping and travel for Ganeshotsav begin days before the festival, Thursday threw up multiple problems that led to traffic congestion across the city, especially in the western suburbs.
Anil Kumbhare, joint commissioner of police (traffic), said that apart from the work for Metro 3 (Aarey Colony to Bandra Kurla Complex), factors that contributed to the chaos included Ganpati welcoming processions, at least two heavy vehicle breakdowns, and outstation buses parked on the roads.
A tanker broke down on the bridge towards Terminal 2 of the Mumbai airport on the Western Expressway on Thursday evening. “It took more than an hour to remove the tanker, creating a traffic jam that spilled over from Vile Parle to Bandra East,” said Kumbhare.
Another heavy vehicle broke down near the Aarey Colony bridge on the Western Express Highway, causing a traffic jam till Kandivali. “The Akurli bridge repair, which has been going on for the past two years, also added to the spillover that was observed till Borivali,” said Kumbhare.
Around 6,600 buses, both public and private, leaving for regions like Konkan were also parked on the roads on Thursday, leading to congestion in areas including Borivali, Prabhadevi, Dadar and Parel.
After Thursday’s chaos, the traffic police have made elaborate preparations to manage congestion over the next fortnight, said Kumbhare. The police have requested the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) to provide them with hydra cranes, used for lifting heavy loads.
“We have received four hydra cranes that will be parked in each region to take heavy vehicles out faster in case of break down. We will no longer have to arrange for hydra cranes as we did in the past,” said Kumbhare.
Additionally, the traffic police have asked BMC to keep the coastal road open 24/7 during the Ganpati festival. The current timings are 7 am to 11 pm, Monday to Friday. “We have also asked MMRDA to reduce the placement of the barricades by one lane on each side from the road where Metro 3-line work is going on so that one extra lane can be provided to ongoing traffic,” said Kumbhare.
He added that the Akurli subway work will get over by September 12, helping ease the traffic situation between Kandivali and Malad.