Mumbai: Maldives President's visit slows traffic on Western Express Highway

First there were potholes Now itrsquos a VVIP for whom a major portion of the Western Express Highway WEH was blocked on Thursday inviting the ire of Mumbaikars who were stuck in long traffic jams for nearly three hours The police had barricaded the road from Bandra to Goregaon so that Maldives President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih could get a few photos clicked at the Film City in Goregaon East Angry commuters asked why the common public was inconvenienced during peak hours because of a VVIPAlso readMumbai Police chief rolls back lsquoFIR for traffic violation policyThousands of Mumbaikars faced traffic snarls on Wednesday too as Maldives President Solih arrived in Mumbai for a twoday visit He met Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari at Raj Bhavan on Wednesday and Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadanvis was also present On Thursday he visited the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust JNPT in Navi Mumbai and then went to Film City in Goregaon for which the police blocked the roads from Bandra to Goregaon from 3 pm to 8 pm At Film City Solih visited Bollywoodtheme park where he clicked photographs and spoke to people about Bollywood From there he left for the airportStuck for hoursCommuters told midday that police barricaded the WEH in Dindoshi which increased their travel duration to over 2 hours Many school buses were also stuck on the highway Those who could take a diversion travelled via SV road and link road which also had more than usual traffic movementHeavy traffic jam on the Western Express Highway Goregaon on Thursday PicSameer MarkandeKailas Mangaonkar 34 a resident of Vasai told midday ldquoI commute between Vasai and Bandra via road and usually it takes me about an hour but today I reached Vasai in three hours Police were deployed on the road and we didnrsquot even know what was happening The public should have been informed in advance about the VVIP movement We would have planned our journey accordingly However I donrsquot understand the need of blocking roads for VVIP movement during peak hours that too in a city like Mumbairdquo Both the Mumbai traffic police and city police on Wednesday posted on social media an advisory about the VVIP movement on Thursday but it most certainly did not reach everyoneEkta Jain an actor said ldquoOn a normal day it takes me about 45 minutes to travel to Andheri West from Film City in Goregaon East However on Thursday evening I was stuck for over 45 minutes on a short Film City road alone It took me over an hour to reach the WEH in Goregaon The VVIP movements should not affect the public Traffic police should send alert text messages to citizens so no one misses on the updatesrdquoPooja Jadhav 26 a resident of Vile Parle leaves her office at Borivli at 5 in the evening and reaches home in an hour ldquoToday however itrsquos 630 pm and I am still at Kandivli Officers deployed on the WEH told me that it was due to VVIP movement VVIP movement should not be allowed during peak hours It badly affects the common peoplerdquoDeepak Ruia a film producer said he commutes to work at Film City from Malad in about 1520 minutes daily ldquoOn Thursday I was stuck in a jam in Goregaon for more than an hour The police barricaded the road Itrsquos not right that so many people were stuck in traffic snarls due to the VVIPrsquos movement The VVIP movement should not affect the publicrdquolsquoIs this democracyrsquoDipesh Tank a resident of Malad said ldquoIt was so frustrating that traffic was stalled by placing barricades just near Pathanwadi on the WEH on the roads towards Oberoi mall in Goregaon It took me over 45 minutes to reach Malad from Jogeshwari around 4 pmrdquoldquoFor years we used to get stuck in jams because of Metro works then because of the potholes and now VVIP movement Why do they require so many hours to cross a few km of the road that is cleared for them Is this democracy Why do they waste our money time and fuel I was stuck for more than an hour around noon in just Jogeshwarirdquo said Neilesh Jadhav who lives in Dahisar ldquoWe have no option but to block the roads to secure VVIPs movements Public notices were already issued the day beforerdquo said a senior traffic copThe meter of an auto one Harnit Oberoi took ran over Rs 200 in 102 km thanks to the wait time due to jam PicTwitterHarnitOberoiWhatrsquos the VVIP protocolldquoSecurity is of utmost importance during any VVIPrsquos movement in Indiardquo a senior police officer told midday ldquoWhen the president or PM of any country visits Mumbai or any city in India they have fixed prescheduled events For their entire journey we have to keep the roads they are scheduled to take empty from start to end No others vehicles are allowed Not even hawkers or pedestrians are allowed to use such roads The violations are punishable under the IPCrdquo