Konkan-bound Ganeshotsav travellers hit by highway delays and train shortage
Incomplete highway and bridge repairs and fully booked trains are leaving Ganeshotsav pilgrims to Konkan stranded on both road and rail routes.
With just three days left for Ganeshotsav, devotees travelling to Konkan are once again facing a difficult journey. Work on the Mumbai-Goa highway remains incomplete, and getting tickets on the major trains to Konkan has become almost impossible. The system has failed to fix problems on both the road and rail fronts, leaving Konkan residents angry.
The bridge at Nagothane, which has been shut, is being given temporary repairs in an attempt to open at least one lane for light vehicles. However, whether traffic can actually start on it will depend on structure and strength tests. There was an attempt to open at least one lane of the Indapur and Mangaon bypass routes before Ganeshotsav, but Konkan Railway refused to give a block for the girder-laying work, so this will now not be completed in time. As a result, this route will continue to face traffic jams.
Officials claim that work on the Mumbai-Goa highway is 90 percent complete, but work on the highway's bridges and bypass roads is still unfinished. Work on the Indapur and Mangaon bypass roads is stalled, and work on the Chiplun flyover is also incomplete. The newly built bridge at Nagothane is currently closed to traffic because cracks have appeared in it.
Along with the road troubles, there are also problems on the railways. Reservations on most trains to Konkan are full for several days from 10 September onward. With waiting lists also full, the IRCTC website has started showing a "regret" message, meaning even waitlisted bookings are closed. Large numbers of passengers booked tickets to travel to Konkan on 11 and 12 September for Ganeshotsav, but with the number of trains falling short of demand, many could not get tickets. After the waiting list limit was crossed, the railways also stopped direct ticket sales, angering passengers. Passengers are demanding that the railway administration run additional special trains immediately.
Trains on which tickets have become difficult to get include the Janshatabdi Express, Tejas Express, Konkankanya Express, Tutari Express, Surat-Madgaon Express, Mangaluru Express, Diva-Sawantwadi Express, Netravati Express and Mandovi Express.
