Initiated by BJP MP Ashish Shelar, the Lights Festival attracts motorists who stop by to take selfies and end up blocking the way
Motorists and bikers have been stopping to take photographs at Bandra Reclamation, causing traffic jams during evening peak hours
Motorists using the Bandra Worli sea link have been faced with a nightmare in the last few days owing to heavy traffic jams on the road leading to the sea link on the Bandra side. The Lights Festival, a part of the Neighbourhood Winter Festival organised by BJP MLA Ashish Shelar at the Reclamation Promenade, has been creating huge traffic snarls right up to the Bandra railway bridge as motorists stop to gawk at the lights.
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Sources at Bandra traffic division told mid-day that the colourful lightings are so appealing and that "is the prime reason for a mass gathering at the spot". The officer added, "The authorities should have made proper arrangements for parking vehicles as the visual causes motorists to stop in the No Halting Zone to take pictures. Motorists going towards Worli from Bandra using the sea link end up crawling at snails' pace due to the crowd and haphazard parking of vehicles on the busy stretch."
The festival will end on January 5. Pic/Shadab Khan
The Lights Festival was inaugurated by Shelar in the presence of Parliamentarian Poonam Mahajan on December 22. "Generally, there is barely any traffic on this stretch but with the Lights Festival, we have to be on our toes to regulate traffic till midnight. The situation becomes more chaotic during the weekend as we have been patrolling the busy road till 3 am for the last three days. This traffic chaos could have been easily averted had there been parking arrangements. The motorists using the sea link pay toll to reach their destinations on time but the snarl has been delaying them badly," said another traffic police officer.
A senior traffic police officer said the campus of the Reclamation Bus Depot could have been turned into a parking venue for festival visitors. The leave of all the personnel deployed at Bandra traffic division has been cancelled for a week just to regulate this traffic. Bandra Traffic division has requested the civic body to facilitate them with fresh barricades to control the huge influx of enthusiasts at the Lights Festival.
"I have been celebrating Neighbourhood Festival for 11 years and this Lights Festival is a part of my over decade-old initiative. This festival was started on December 22 to welcome the New Year and will end on January 5," Shelar said. Speaking about the traffic snarl, he said the police department had been informed in advance but "they swung into action three days ago after the motorists began to complain about the snarls".
"We have requested the MSRDC officials to provide space for parking near their office," Shelar said. "The light show at the sea link promenade has got a huge response from Mumbaikars but it is barely 500 metres before the toll plaza," said Anand Mule, senior inspector, Bandra traffic division, adding, "Keeping the huge influx of revellers in mind, we have planned to barricade the left side of the south-bound sea link road on December 31 evening up to one kilometre for the smooth regulation of traffic towards Reclamation, Lilavati Hospital, and the sea link."
A police officer helping traffic cops at the spot said, "We expect a huge gathering at the promenade, popularly known as Jhanda point, on December 31." A senior officer told mid-day that many revellers who were on the way to attend mass at Mount Mary church on Christmas Eve could not as they were stuck in the traffic jam. A Bandra resident Peter Pereira said, "This Lights Festival has been creating chaos on road. There is no proper plan in place. The huge crowd is struggling to find parking. Why have this lights show? It is just a publicity stunt by a local leader."
11
No. of years ago the festival was initiated
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