Why Mumbai's Transport Grid Shifts Completely During Ganeshotsav
Ganeshotsav does not just add crowds to Mumbai, it reorganises the city. The ten-day festival, anchored by massive public Ganesh installations called sarvajanik mandals, draws lakhs of visitors from Maharashtra and beyond, and the municipal corporation responds by closing or restricting vehicle movement on dozens of arterial roads. In previous years, roads around Lalbaugcha Raja in Lalbaug, GSB Seva Mandal in King's Circle, and Andheri cha Raja in Andheri West have seen complete pedestrian-only stretches for stretches of 48 to 72 hours around visarjan, the final immersion procession. The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) releases its traffic advisory a few days before the festival starts, check it on the BMC website or the Mumbai Traffic Police Twitter handle, both of which update in real time during the festival.
