Maratha protesters slow down Mumbai

The platforms, concourse area, ticketing counters and even entrance to the Central Railway headquarters building was a sea of orange as the activists sported orange caps and scarfs inscribed with Mi Pan Jarange

MUMBAI: Like a messiah to the Maratha morcha activists, Manoj Jarange-Patil stormed Mumbai with 40,000 supporters, bringing parts of the country’s commercial capital to a near standstill from Thursday night. It was a calculated show of strength, a preview of the political muscle he can flex.

Mumbai, India - Aug. 29, 2025: View of Eastern freeway traffic jam during the ongoing Maratha Reservation Protest at Azad Maidan, in Mumbai, India, on Friday, August 29, 2025. (Photo by Anshuman Poyrekar/Hindustan Times) (Anshuman Poyrekar/HT Photo)

Chanting loudly, they arrived via both road and rail. They flooded local trains, choked arterial roads along the eastern flank of the island city, turned the Eastern Freeway into a giant parking lot, and transformed Mumbai’s largest railway terminus, the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT), into a colossal waiting room. Their eventual destination on Friday was Azad Maidan, where Jarange-Patil launched his indefinite hunger strike.

As they poured in from Thursday night, they made a beeline for CSMT, to escape the downpour and wait until their leader started his hunger strike. The platforms, concourse area, ticketing counters and even entrance to the Central Railway headquarters building was a sea of orange as the activists sported orange caps and scarfs inscribed with ‘Mi Pan Jarange’.

The air-conditioned toilets at the terminus were a mess. After their long journey from various parts of the state, the protestors were anxious to wash up and bathe before heading to Azad Maidan.

Mumbai’s local trains on both the Main and Harbour lines were a free-for-all – the activists invading the ladies’ coaches as well. They chanted slogans in the trains and, since they initially didn’t know where to go, staged a sit-in on the Harbour Line and at CSMT station.

Advisory for citizens

Given the swelling crowd, the Central Railway on Friday afternoon put out an advisory for citizens, urging them to head for CSMT only if it was unavoidable. The advisory was issued at lunch hour, well after citizens in South Mumbai had reached their workplaces.

“To ensure the safety of the passengers and protestors, we instructed our train managers and motormen to slow the trains entering stations on the Central Railway to less than 5 kmph (instead of the usual 10kmph) and pause longer than usual at the platforms. The activists did not have the experience of travelling in Mumbai’s local trains and we didn’t want to take any chances,” said a CR official.

At stations such as CSMT, Wadala, Dadar, Chinchpokli, Curry Road, Byculla, Sandhurst Road, Sewri, Vashi, among others, we deployed more than 180 ticket checking staff and close to 350 police personnel from the RPF, GRP and MSF.

“As long as they weren’t damaging railway property or stopping trains, we did not want to intervene. Since many of the protesters were new to Mumbai, we instructed the staff to guide them towards Azad Maidan,” said an RPF officer.

Coming as the protest does amid the Ganapati festival, the beleaguered RPF extended their working hours from 8 hours to 12 hours.

Commuters stranded

Swapnil Mone, who was to board the Vidarbha Superfast Express at CSMT, decided to catch the train at Kalyan station instead. Subiya Nadar ended up missing her train scheduled from CSMT at 8.35 pm on Thursday . She posted on X that she was held up on the Eastern Freeway due to the surge in buses bringing hordes of activists into Mumbai. “There should have been prior notices to avoid inconvenience. We ended up with no refund,” said Nadar.

Office-goers who made it to South Mumbai, despite the chaos, had a tough time. “I reached CSMT as usual, but I have no idea how to proceed,” said R Nakashe, from Navi Mumbai.

Lawyer Amit Karkhanis, whose office is in Fort, said taxis were scarce. “My junior had to go to the Small Causes Court from our office. He couldn’t get a cab and had to walk instead,” said Karkhanis.

AL Quadros, who heads the Mumbai Taximen’s Union, said, “Around 2,000-3,000 taxis ply in south Mumbai. However, 65-70% were offs the roads due to the morcha.”

Eastern Freeway shut

The Mumbai police created a green corridor for the activists to reach Azad Maidan from the Vashi toll naka via the Eastern Freeway, so that traffic would not be disrupted – but that did not happen.

There were traffic snarls in several places, especially in south Mumbai, after the Mumbai police stopped all the protestors’ vehicles at Wadi Bunder. They were also halted in areas like Sewri, Cotton Green and Reay Road.

The Eastern Freeway, which was shut from Thursday night, turned into a gigantic parking lot for buses and other vehicles that brought the protestors from different parts of the state.

Arterial roads leading to south Mumbai, such as Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Road, P D’Mello Road, Maharshi Karve Marg, Marine Drive and Kalbadevi Road were choked with supporters making their way to Azad Maidan.

Commuters were further inconvenienced as the BEST was forced to make many last-minute changes. “Around 700 buses plying on 65-odd routes were diverted or short terminated in Central Mumbai. This happened for over 9 hours, from 9-9.30 am onwards,” said a BEST official.

(Inputs from Mayura Janwalkar and Aditi Shekhar)