Mumbai, November 14: Prime Minister Narendra Modi's massive rally in Dadar's Shivaji Park on Thursday caused massive traffic woes for commuters as the timing of his rally coincided with peak timing during which office goers head back home after a gruelling day of work. Somewhere amid route diversions and water-tight security, it looked like the plight of commuters was ignored.

Buses full of BJP, Shiv Sena (Eknath Shinde) and NCP (Ajit Pawar faction) workers arrived in Dadar and Mahim near Shivaji Park where PM Modi's 'Mahayuti' mega-rally took place. As the number of Mahayuti supporters flocking to Shivaji Park surged as the evening advanced, so did the number of vehicles moving at snail's pace at the busy Ram Ganesh Gadkari Chowk.

Online Food Delivery Boys Complain

A couple of delivery boys parked their bikes on the side of the road. One delivery boy was from Swiggy and another from Zomato. "I have an order to deliver near Siddhivinayak temple. However, that stretch of the road is closed. Now if the customer cancels the order due to the delay, which is inevitable since I will have to take longer route where there is excessive traffic too, the company will charge me double the amount of order," said the delivery boy.

Working Woman Waiting To See Her Child

A working woman waiting at the bus station near Gadkari chowk who lives in Ghatkopar said that she had to wait for over half-an-hour for a bus that she would normally get at interval of 10-15 minutes. She looked worried but added that she was helpless. A few college students also complained of getting late for their evening classes.

Taxi Drivers Complain

Taxi drivers complained of the traffic in the area moving at snail's pace. For the cabbies, the longer the time spent on one ride results in losing out another passenger or customer. One taxi driver headed to Kalbadevi looked particularly worried as he saw the massive jam ahead due to the tight bandobast in place for the rally.

Locals Hesitated In Speaking On The Issue

While commuters and taxi drivers were vocal about the traffic problems they were facing due to the rally, locals chose to remain silent and declined to speak on the issue. A few locals on evening walk did look irked when large crowds navigated their way through the traffic and made their way to the Shivaji Park for the rally.

Could The Rally Have Been Timed Better Or Held At Another Spot?

Buses carrying supporters were parked at Tulsi pipe road and a sizeable number of workers decided to walk till Shivaji Park. It was evident that workers had come in large numbers from far away areas in the city and even beyond city limits.

This begs the question that couldn't the rally have been held on a Sunday without disrupting normal life? Better still, couldn't the rally have been organised on city's outskirts when crowds in such large numbers were brought in from far away? We leave it to the wisdom of the commuters and citizens of the 'Maximum City'.