Many Metro barricades removed for Ganesh immersion tomorrow

The annual Ganeshotsav festival will culminate with immersion of Ganpati idols on Friday, September 9.

The crowd this year is expected to be huge since the festival is taking place without restrictions after two years.

MMRDA is the project implementing authority carrying out over 200kms of Metro projects in MMR for which it has installed barricades on various roads, including the Western Express Highway.

Following a request from Mulund’s LBS Cha Raja Ganesh Mandal, the MMRDA removed the barricade at Santoshi Mata Mandir to make traffic movement easier during Ganpati procession.

Metropolitan Commissioner, MMRDA, S V R Srinivas, said, “On Western Express Highway near green naala, out of 270 metres of barricading, 120 metres have been removed. Similarly, Between SCLR junction and Vakola junction, 130 metres of barricading has been removed while from Sahar junction to New Airport colony gate Metro Line-7, 125 metres of barricading has been removed.”

The barricades at Airoli end of Airoli Bridge, near Chhedanagar Flyover, and Kerosene Jetty have also been removed.

Srinivas added that they have adopted all measures to avert traffic bottlenecks due to ongoing Metro and other infrastructure projects.

Besides removing and shifting of Metro barricades, the MMRDA has also initiated a special drive to fill potholes on roads under its jurisdiction, said a senior official.

Also, MMRDA has put up lights and traffic signages, and has deployed traffic marshals to avoid blind spots at South Kasheli Creek Bridge to facilitate traffic on immersion day, said the official.