A number of vehicles, which tried to enter the city limits, were turned away as they did not have the mandatory epasses or did not belong to the essential category permitted by the state government to travel.
Police have ramped up the checking at nakabandis, which has ultimately resulted in lesser vehicles entering the city. Meanwhile, police have been checking all vehicles on essential services at various checkpoints.
Even as the Mumbai Police discontinued the use of colour-coded stickers to curb traffic snarls at the entry points of the city, the continuous and rigorous checking at nakabandi points is still underway. Complying with the reintroduction of e-passes in case of extreme emergencies inter-state and interdistrict travel, all entry or exit points of the city limits erected checkpoints. A senior state traffic official said that traffic was relatively less on roads after e-pass was made mandatory for interdistrict and inter-state travel.
Toll plazas in the city at Dahisar, Vashi and Mulund too saw a number of vehicles turning up to enter the city on Monday, being the first weekday after e-pass was made mandatory on Saturday. Police, however, after checking had turned away many vehicles and motorists due to not having an e-pass or not being in the essential service category.
Somnath Gharge, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Traffic Western Suburbs) said that only 20 percent of vehicles were seen on Monday, in comparison to the normal Monday rush in regular times.
"Only 20 percent motorists turned up on Monday on the roads, as maximum motorists were either working from homes or stayed at home as they did not fall in essential categories. Regular checking at various nakabandi points is underway and those found without epass, trying to enter/exit the city, were turned away," added DCP Gharge. As a result, other city roads like Western Express Highway (WEH), Link Road and SV Road too were less congested.
Another officer from Vashi said that there was seemingly less traffic compared to normal weekday rush and no Monday blues were observed. Mulund Check Naka also rigorously underwent checking of the vehicles for e-pass and essential service identity cards, only to turn away those found without it.
