Navi Mumbai traffic police have deployed more than 275 officers and staff, along with breakdown-response teams, cranes and alternative-route planning, as people returning from Konkan after Ganeshotsav begin travelling towards Navi Mumbai, Thane and Mumbai.
The return movement is taking place in phases because devotees observed festivals lasting one and a half, five or 10 days and are therefore not travelling back on the same day. This is expected to reduce the likelihood of a single, concentrated surge of vehicles, although the Navi Mumbai Traffic Police have prepared a special plan to prevent congestion during the return journey.
The arrangements include rapid assistance for vehicles that break down, mobile repair teams and equipment to remove damaged vehicles from the road. The police have also planned alternative routes to help manage traffic if congestion develops along the main corridors used by returning travellers.
The measures follow the traffic arrangements made for the outward journey to Konkan. Vehicle numbers had risen substantially when residents left for the festival around the same period. According to the report, the State Transport service had operated about 5,800 buses for Ganeshotsav travel to Konkan.
Breakdowns involving buses and private vehicles can quickly obstruct narrow or heavily used sections of the highway, creating delays for traffic behind them. To reduce this risk during the outward movement, Navi Mumbai police had arranged breakdown-repair support at intervals of about every kilometre, as well as mobile repair teams, cranes and special vehicles for removing disabled vehicles.
The arrangements helped keep traffic moving comparatively smoothly towards Konkan, according to the report. The traffic police now plan to maintain a similar support system for the return journey, as vehicles gradually enter the Navi Mumbai, Thane and Mumbai urban region.
The phased nature of the return movement means traffic volumes may be distributed across different days rather than arriving as one large convoy. However, police deployment and roadside vehicle-removal capacity remain central to keeping key routes operational while the festival travel period continues. The Navi Mumbai Traffic Police’s next step is to implement the planned alternative routes, breakdown assistance and deployment during the ongoing return movement.
