Ganeshotsav: Mumbaikars shopping for festival hold up traffic, cause snarls

Heavy traffic snarls were reported from several areas in the city due to setting up of Ganpati mandals and too many people thronging shops, days before the festival. Shoppers flocked all over Ambedkar Road, flower market and other roads near Dadar west stalling traffic movement. Some of the affected areas include Tulsi Pipe Road from Dadar to Elphinstone, Kabutar Khana and other bylanes near Dadar west station. Areas such as Sion, Chembur, JVLR, Kalina were also badly affected during peak hours of Wednesday evening.

The situation worsened during peak hours, especially post 4pm, causing motorists to reach their destination more than an hour late. An officer from the traffic department said, "The situation today (Wednesday) was unexpected as many shoppers thronged Dadar and surrounding areas. We deployed several policemen to control the crowd, pedestrian movement and traffic."

Officials said that the situation would not change for the better over the next few days as more mandals will be coming up all over the city. "We have volunteers and traffic officials working round-the-clock to ensure that pedestrians and motorists are not inconvenienced. As there will be diversions, closure of roads and control on parking during Ganpati days, the traffic authorities expect the situation to be under control," said another officer.