Nearly 80K vehicles plied Mumbai Trans Harbour Link in 48 hours

The Mumbai Trans Harbour Link MTHL connecting Sewri with Nhava Sheva seems to be a smash hit among motorists ldquoIn the first 48 hours since it was opened to the public on January 13 a total of 79450 vehicles plied the bridgerdquo said a Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority MMRDA officialAccording to the official 24083 vehicles used the MTHL on Saturday while the following dayrsquos figure was 55367The oneway toll for motorists is Rs 250 while the return fare is Rs 375 and daily pass costs Rs 625On Monday midday revealed how foolhardy motorists were blocking traffic by halting on the connector to click picturesThe Mumbai Trans Harbour Link as seen from Parel on January 15 PicRane Ashish Location courtesyCrescent BayThe traffic police department has started cracking down on such offenders It also posted on X on Monday ldquoWe agree that Atal Setu is definitely lsquoworth a watchrsquo but itrsquos also illegal to stop on it amp click photos You will face a FIR if you stop on MTHLrdquoMotorist Hitendra Pachkale who travelled via the bridge on Sunday night confirmed that he saw traffic constables penalising motorists who were stopping for frivolous reasonsldquoThe MTHL falls under the jurisdiction of the Mumbai police and their Navi Mumbai counterparts Action has been taken against 139 vehicles for parking violations from January 13th to 530 pm on January 15 on the section of the bridge under the Mumbai policersquos jurisdiction Out of the 139 cases action was taken against four todayrdquo said an officer from the traffic control roomM Ramkumar additional commissioner of police traffic said ldquoWe have started taking action on a war footing against people who stop on the MTHL under Section 177 parking violations of the Motor Vehicles Act The fine for parking in noparking zones is R500 for firsttime offenders Traffic police vehicles are patrolling the bridge at regular intervals to check for people stopping to click photographs Since Sunday people have come to know that we are acting against offenders which is why the number decreased on Mondayrdquolsquo1300 ill after Modi eventrsquoDr Nitin Deomane a surgeon at Raigad Civil Hospital said that about 1300 people visited the outpatient department OPD on the day of the event He said that this was expected due to the large number of attendees ldquoMedically speaking it is anticipated that at least two per cent of people will experience some kind of medical issue at any large gathering so this is not uncommonrdquo he saidSince there was an adequate supply of water at the event no cases of severe dehydration were reported In a similar event held last year in April in Navi Mumbai where Home Minister Amit Shah was amongst the main invitees a severe lack of water resulted in the deaths of 13 people and the hospitalisation of around 650 others due to heat strokesldquoOverall the common complaints in the event were related to headaches or pain in the knees or feetrdquo he said Meanwhile the hospital admitted six patients for observation ldquoAll of them had blood pressure issues There have been no casualtiesrdquo he said adding that most of those who visited the hospital had come from nearby villages to attend the event