Mumbai: Heavy traffic congestion was reported on both, Western Express Highway (WEH) and Eastern Express Highway (EEH) on Monday as Mumbaikars stepped out during the fourth phase of the coronavirus lockdown. With not much clarity on the new rules and relaxations given in the latest lockdown extension, scores of vehicles, both two-wheeler and four-wheeler, thronged the streets as if it was any other day, leading to a traffic congestion and delay of at least 20 minutes.
The WEH, EEH along with Sion-Panvel highway saw an increase in the number of private vehicles on Monday morning. A traffic official said, congestion was reported in parts of Andheri, Goregaon, Malad and Kurla, while in some areas, traffic jams were caused by the barricades installed by the police. Even as police sources claimed that the private vehicles on roads belonged to those involved in essential services, which eventually led to traffic snarls on Monday.
Meanwhile, as traffic congestion hit the Mumbai streets, the social media users immediately took to the internet and expressed their ire over the sorry state of the city traffic, irritatingly questioning if the lockdown was over in Mumbai. A Twitter user, Chirag Bhatt shared a video of congestion near Jogeshwari (E) on WEH and questioned, "Mumbai back to normal?", while another asked, "Lockdown over in Mumbai?" as he shared a video of a heavily congested EEH.
After traffic snarls were reported all over the city, on Monday evening, Mumbai Police Commissioner Parambir Singh posted on Twitter, "Gentle Reminder Mumbaikars, Mumbai being a RED ZONE, is yet to see any relaxations from earlier rules. Under Lockdown 4.0, vehicles travelling without valid permission or for non-emergency, DAY or NIGHT, will be impounded & driver will face strict action. It’s for your safety first."
