Heavy vehicle traffic banned on Mumbai-Goa highway till Ganesh festival ends

The Navi Mumbai traffic police have banned the movement of heavy vehicles on Mumbai-Goa highway from Sunday till the end of the Ganesh festival to be held next month. Deputy Commissioner of Police (Traffic), Navi Mumbai, Tirupati Kakade issued the order to this effect on Saturday.

Maharashtra PWD Minister Ravindra Chavan, during an inspection of the ongoing repair work on the same route, was stuck in traffic jam for more than two hours on Saturday.

Later, in a video released from Chavan's office in the evening, the minister said after a discussion with the chief minister and his deputy, it was decided to ban heavy traffic on the route for the time being and allow people to proceed to Konkan without any hurdles and the repair work to be carried out smoothly.

DCP Kakade in the order said a meeting of stakeholders was held on August 23 on the condition of the Mumbai-Goa highway and it was decided there should be no traffic jams so as to facilitate smooth journey of those proceeding to Konkan for the festival. Also, repair work on the Mumbai-Goa highway is in progress and hence the movement of heavy vehicles on it has been banned, the order said. The traffic department has suggested alternate routes to be used by heavy vehicles while proceeding on the Mumbai-Goa route.