Andheri tower fire leads to traffic chaos on Link Road

The fire at Lotus Business Park in Andheri (West) led to traffic chaos on Link Road, where the commercial tower is located.

The traffic police said due to the fire several emergency vehicles were rushed to the spot and that affected the vehicle movement in the area.

An officer said, "At least 25 traffic personnel had to be deployed on Link Road in Andheri to return normalcy on the road. There was bumper-to-bumper traffic since afternoon. Some vehicles were also diverted towards SV Road to ease the flow."

Another traffic police officer said fire brigade, water tankers and ambulances were being rushed to the spot for which traffic had to stopped and cleared so that their movement would not be restricted. This further worsened the flow of vehicles on Link Road. The serpentine queues went as far back as Santa Cruz. Traffic policemen had been deployed at junctions before Andheri (West) to divert motorists to the Western Express Highway or SV Road.

Traffic movement was disrupted on both the northbound and southbound stretch of Link Road. Several motorists took to social networking sites to inform others to avoid Link Road, if possible, due to traffic chaos. The traffic police said that by evening the movement had started improving, a couple of hours after the fire was contained.

Deputy commissioner of police (traffic) Pratap Dighavkar said, "As 22 fire engines were rushed to the spot and had to be parked on the road, the traffic movement was disrupted for 15-20 minutes only."