Commuters were stuck in traffic for almost 4 hours after the newly elected BJP minister's supporters and other politicians arrived at the Mumbai Airport on Saturday evening, December 22, which surprised motorists. According to the Indian Express report, nearly 500 vehicles reached the airport to welcome them, causing jams on the roads connecting the airport, including the Western Express Highway.
Air travellers were also impacted due to traffic jams. A police official told the Indian Express that the visit was not planned and we were not informed in advance. This unplanned event caused traffic jams on the northbound stretch of the Western Express Highway from Bandra to Goregaon.
Huge jams were seen in a stretch between Bandra, Kherwadi, and Andheri. Long lines of vehicles were also reported near Goregaon Hub Mall and in Malad, where vehicles were almost at a standstill for several minutes. According to the police, the BJP leader was scheduled to arrive at 7 pm, but he came out at 9.30 pm from the airport, due to which his supporters waited on roads near the airport, and their vehicles did not move, leading to jams under Andheri Bridge. This also created north- and south-bound vehicular traffic jams.
Many Mumbaikars took to social media to express their frustrations with long traffic jams and anger at the Mumbai Traffic Police for their poor management.
One of the X users stuck in traffic on the Western Express Highway said, "Condition of Western Express Highway. Cars are not moving near Mumbai airport. People are walking on express highways to go home."
Horrible traffic near Mumbai airport- Western Express Highway (Standstill traffic South Bound, very slow moving traffic Northside)," another X user posted while sharing photos. "No clue what was the reason for this traffic," he added.