10 km jam on Mumbai-Goa highway near Indapur strands returning festival travellers

With Ganeshotsav over and the immersion of Bappa's idols complete, lakhs of chakarmanis from Ratnagiri and Sindhudurg districts have started heading back towards Mumbai. But a massive traffic jam near Indapur on the Mumbai-Goa highway brought their vehicles to a halt midway. The trouble during the return journey left both the travellers and their families back in Konkan deeply anxious.

Families were worried about whether their loved ones heading to Mumbai would reach safely, and kept calling them repeatedly for updates. Traffic police and government staff in the Indapur area were making every effort to clear the jam, but everyone was left waiting to know when the highway would finally be cleared. The biggest reason the jam worsened so badly was that vehicles from both directions were being allowed to use the same road, effectively running two-way traffic on it.

Vehicles headed towards Mumbai squeezed into three or four lanes at once, causing the situation to spiral out of control. At several points, vehicles did not move from their spot for hours. Most seriously, some emergency ambulances also got stuck in the massive jam. With no way for the ambulances carrying critically ill patients to move forward, the patients' families were left extremely distressed. The lack of administrative planning meant this was the major consequence borne from the traffic jam.

On Monday, September 21, the traffic system on the route between Indapur and Kosimbale appeared to have completely broken down. On the road heading towards Mumbai, long queues of vehicles stretched for about 10 kilometres. This caused considerable trouble not only for the chakarmanis travelling towards Mumbai but also for local drivers heading towards Mangaon and Mahad.

The problem arose because the number of vehicles on the road increased significantly during this festival season without corresponding planning. Vehicles remained jammed bumper to bumper, forcing travellers to stand in the same spot for hours. This spoiled what should have been a pleasant journey home for the chakarmanis, and there is visible anger among people over the poor state of the highway. As the jam grew, some impatient and reckless drivers ignored the rules and began overtaking, which further worsened the chaos and the congestion on the road.