Mumbai, July 29: A protest by 300-odd students and parents of the New Era School on Hughes Road, demanding the reopening of the school, during peak hours on Tuesday caused a huge traffic snarl in South Mumbai. The six-lane arterial Peddar Road was blocked for hours and the police could not do much as there were scores of children among the protesters.
Till mid-afternoon, Haji Ali, Worli, Chowpatty, Bhulabhai Desai Road, Walkeshwar Road, Nana Chowk, Worli Naka, Khan Abdul Gaffar Khan Road, Mahim and the Western Express Highway were all clogged. The traffic diversions implemented worsened the situation.
Senior police inspector S Sawant of Tardeo traffic police division said, “The north-bound traffic from South Mumbai was diverted from Hughes Road towards Gamdevi Police Station, Nana Chowk, Bhulabhai Desai Road and Haji Ali.
The south-bound traffic from North was diverted from Haji Ali towards Nana Chowk and Hughes Road. The restrictions were removed around 5 pm and north-bound traffic was allowed on Peddar Road. For an hour, the traffic from Vakola Bridge and Kalanagar was diverted towards Dharavi and Wadala.”
Priyanka B, a freelance writer who boarded a BEST bus to South Mumbai, said, “I reached Atria Mall at 10.30 am, but it was at 1 pm that the bus reached Haji Ali Junction. The traffic situation was terrible.”
Police officials who were posted at the protest site, meanwhile, claimed helplessness. “The protesters also had children with them and so any use of force was out of question,” one of them said.
The protest began around 9 am. Senior police inspector Sanjay Divadkar from the Gamdevi police station said, “A major part of our force was deployed at the protest spot, but it was peaceful.”
Meanwhile, motorists were left fuming at the diversions that resulted in bumper-to-bumper traffic. Arjun Singh, a taxi driver who had parked his vehicle outside Grant Road station, said, “The diversions led to a major traffic jam and no taxis were willing to go that route from the station for the fear of getting stuck.”
–Agencies