The jam, which affected commuters from Friday evening into Saturday is likely to continue on Sunday. NAVI MUMBAI: A nine-kilometre tailback at Palaspe left thousands of devotees from the Mumbai region returning to their ancestral Konkan villages for Ganeshotsav stranded for hours as the annual festive exodus overwhelmed the routes through Panvel and Raigad.
Instead, the police halted the containers right along the main carriageway, blocking three full lanes. “We have taken care to provide maximum facilities to people travelling to Konkan and ensure that they do not face congestion. Khade urged motorists to use Atal Setu and Uran Phata instead of routes through Panvel and Kalamboli. The police have also arranged towing and recovery support for breakdowns. “When such a massive volume of traffic moves along a single route, there can be some minor disruptions. However, the kind of severe difficulties faced in previous years are not present this time,” he claimed.
DCP (Traffic) Rahul Khade said that 400 personnel had been deployed, comprising around 250 traffic personnel and 150 additional personnel for security and crowd control. The Panvel Traffic Branch also sought 50 additional traffic wardens from the municipal corporation for ground-level coordination on major highway stretches. Raigad guardian minister Bharat Gogawale said that 5,200 ST buses had been booked, apart from trains, private buses and personal vehicles. Gogawale said that 10 to 12 facilitation centres had been established with drinking water, toilets, tea, snacks and medical supplies for travellers.
“We were told the restrictions on heavy vehicles would ensure smooth passage for Ganeshotsav travellers. It took us over two hours just to crawl past the Palaspe flyover,” said Pratap Sawant, a Kankavli-bound motorist travelling from Airoli. Girish Renose of Mumbai, travelling to Kankavli with his elderly parents, said his family spent about three-and-a-half hours covering barely two kilometres between the expressway interchange and Palaspe. “We were told the heavy vehicle ban would give families a clear passage to Konkan. Instead, the authorities allowed trailers to park right on the flyover,” he said. The government has also taken a good decision to waive toll charges,” he said.
