The traffic congestion resulting from Maratha leader Manoj Jarange Patil's agitation, which had a cascading effect throughout the metropolis, was further complicated by the scheduled visit of Union home minister Amit Shah.
The latter visits Mumbai each year during Ganesh festival and makes it a point to have darshan of the famous Lalbaugcha Raja, state minister Ashish Shelar's home in Bandra and a few other select places. He has Z Plus security which involves a long convoy of cars with armed commandos and jammer vehicles apart from a large number of local police.
Even though he was scheduled to land only in the evening, the Mumbai police went overboard and regulated sound-bound traffic on the coastal road in the afternoon.
After they cleared the Bandra-Worli sea link, many motorists wanting to reach Nariman Point were stopped midway and asked to rejoin the coastal road after going via Haji Ali, Warden Road and Breach Candy. Deepak Sahu, a driver, said it took him an extra hour to reach Nariman Point from BKC. ``It is high time we put an end to VIP culture," observed Chandra Sankar, a motorist.
