Ganeshotsav In Mumbai Might Be Easier With Online Permits, But Festivities May Be Marred By Metro Work

As Mumbai gears up for its largest festival of the year – Ganeshotsav or Ganesh Chaturthi – workshops building murtis of Lord Ganesh as well as organisers of pandals are on an overdrive to get everything ready.

Like the last two years, the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (MCGM) has enabled for online application of permits for pandals and their processions from the workshops and during the final visarjan.

However, what is bothering organisers is construction work across the city where three Metro lines – two elevated and one underground – are coming up. According to a Times of India report, members of the Brihanmumbai Sarvajanik Ganeshotsav Samanvay Samiti – an umbrella body of the various pandals met with with civic officials and expressed their apprehensions about the construction work hampering processions. Numerous roads have been barricaded for Metro work and many areas have height restrictions as well.

The murtis are expected to leave workshops by 15 August after which their decoration work begins. The visarjan will take place one and a half days after Ganesh Chaturti that falls on 13 September or on Anant Chaturdashi that will take place on 23 September.

With roads narrowed down due to existing congestion and construction work, motorists of India’s financial capital will have to gear up for extra traffic jams. Representatives of various pandals have written to both the MCGM and the Mumbai Traffic Police (MPT) asking for details on alternative routes and road quality so that potholes and uneven paver blocks would not hamper the movement of larger murtis.

Also Read: So, Is ‘Lord Ganesha’ Behind The Poor Civic Infrastructure In Indian Cities?