Sunday morning woes for motorists at Colaba

There was chaos near Regal Cinema in Colaba on Sunday morning as traffic police stopped vehicular movement at the junction for allowing US President Barack Obama’s convoy to pass through.

There was chaos near Regal Cinema in Colaba on Sunday morning as traffic police stopped vehicular movement at the junction for allowing US President Barack Obama’s convoy to pass through. Although no specific reason was given for altering Obama’s travel plan, commuters had to suffer as traffic came to a standstill for almost an hour.

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Later, however, the traffic police apologised for the inconvenience caused to motorists due to the traffic arrangements that were made during Obama’s two-day visit to the city.

Nandkumar Chougale, deputy commissioner of police (DCP), traffic, said the decision to completely stop traffic at the Regal junction was taken due to security concerns. “We had to stop the traffic as a security measure in the interest of the nation. There was a minor snarl at Regal and we apologise to the commuters if it has caused inconvenience,” said Chougale.

But, commuters were irked, as they had to wait for almost an hour to travel from DG office to Colaba Causeway, which would on a normal day take not more than two minutes.

“There was total mismanagement and confusion. I wanted to go to Colaba Causeway, but had to spend over 20 minutes in the traffic jam,” said Siddharth Patel, a Nagpada resident.

Another motorist, Rohit Gilani said, “Obama’s visit to India was a punishment for the commuters in Mumbai.”

The traffic police, on their part, also issued apologies and also thanked the Mumbaiites through the variable messaging system (VMS) boards at various junctions across the city. “Through the VMS, we have tried to convey to the people that their support is essential to make such a large scale event possible, without any problems,” said Chougule.