The heavy rain that has often led to a flood-like situation in the city has also affected the numbers of devotees going to Ganesh mandals. As the number of people going for darshan has reduced, so have incidents of chain-snatching and mobile thefts. Police note every year that many inter-state thieving gangs enter the city to take advantage of the crowds, especially at Lalbaug. But sources from the police claimed that offences have reduced to over 50 per cent here this year compared to last year.

Lalbaug has popular sarvajanik Ganesh mandals such as Lalbaugcha Raja, Chintamani, Ganesh Galli, Raja Tejukayacha Raja and Rangari Badak Chawl. All the mandals attract Ganesh devotees not only from Mumbai and surrounding areas but also from interior Maharashtra, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh. This results in massive crowds in Lalbaug.