Bhima Koregaon Violence in Mumbai: Harbour lines train back on track, here are traffic diversions for Eastern suburbs

A day after violence broke out near Pune on the 200^th anniversary of the Bhima Koregaon battle, there was trouble in the Eastern suburbs of Mumbai as well. The Eastern Express Highway was affected and there was agitation which led to local trains getting delayed on the Harbour Line. Services were restored completely at 4:40 PM. 

Latest Traffic Updates 

 

Mumbai Police wrote on Twitter:

“Due to certain agitations, traffic congestion is reported on Eastern Express Highway (at Ramabai Ambedkar Nagar, Cheda Nagar and Kamraj Nagar), Sion Panvel Road at Chembur Naka,JVLR near Powai. Commuters are advised to avoid these roads for the moment. Request you to take LBS Road as an alternate where traffic is moving though slow.”

Following diversions have been affected due to the agitations

 1. Vikroli north and south bound diverted to LBS road.

2. JVLR diverted towards Saki Vihar

3. Sion Panvel Highway diverted at Umarshi Bappa Chowk to Jhama Mahal Chowk to Panjrapol.”

16:46 IST Tuesday, 2 January 2018

Amitesh Kumar, Joint Commissioner of Police (Traffic) said: “Due to certain agitations in Mumbai, traffic congestion is reported on 1. Eastern Express Highway (at Ramabai Ambedkar Nagar, Cheda Nagar and Kamraj Nagar)

People are advised to avoid these roads for the moment. They may take LBS Road as an alternate where traffic is moving though slow.

Following diversions have been affected:

1. Vikroli north and south bound diverted to LBS road. 

2. JVLR partly diverted towards Saki Vihar”

Traffic standstill on Amar Mahal bridge on EEH. At least two dozen vehicles have been vandalised in Chembur in police presence. 

 

This is a developing story. Follow for more updates. 

.

 

There were reports of stone-pelting at Chembur Station and a few vehicles were damaged at Pratiksha Nagar.

The Mumbai Police put out a tweet telling users that traffic was affected due to protests and that it was moving now. It added that traffic at Chembur Naka was still affected.

They wrote: “Don’t believe in rumours. Traffic on Eastern expressway was affected due to protests. It’s moving now. Traffic at Chembur Naka is still affected. There is nothing to panic. Verify facts with police officers and men before posting anything on social media.”

Shops were also closed at Ghatkopar and several users on Twitter warned people against avoiding Sion-Chembur-Mulund roads as far as possible.

One user wrote: “From Annabhau Uddaanpul towards Amar Mahal Bridge, traffic is completely jam packed and very slowly moving.”

Another user said that there was protests outside Powai Police Station as well, and the Jogeshwari-Vikrholi Link road was also badly affected till the IIT junction.  There was also terrible traffic down Santa Cruz-Chembur Link Road (SCLR) towards Santa Cruz. 

Tensions gripped the Mumbai suburb of Chembur, and an eyewitness told DNA that he had visited the bank at noon, when a group of boys came to the bank and demanded that the shutters be downed. “The shutters were downed at Chembur station as well,” he said.

According to eyewitnesses, the commotion started at Chembur naka. The police quickly reached the spot and brought the situation under control. Unconfirmed reports also suggest that a bus was broken during the protests. Someone even shared a video, but the source could not be verified.

Trouble was also reported from Powai, Mankhurd, Bhandup, Govandi, Sion and Mulund where several shops were told to pull down their shutters. According to reports, some shops that stayed open were vandalised. Shops in Ghatkopar have also been closed. Traffic is blocked on Eastern Express Highway due to agitation. Few vehicles have been damaged at Pratiksha Nagar in Sion

The people in agitation rally are requesting people to support them in their protest by closing their shops. Situation is under control in Mulund area and police presence have been increased," said Shripad Kale, SPI Mulund police station

Battle of Bhima Koregaon battle turns violent

The event to mark the 200th anniversary of the Bhima Koregaon battle in Pune district, in which the British Army comprising dalits had defeated upper-caste Peshwas, was marred by incidents of stone pelting and vandalism on Monday.
 

The incident occurred in Bhima Koregaon in afternoon when people were heading towards a war memorial in the village, police said.

The violence erupted after a group and some members of the crowd on its way to visit the memorial had an argument over some issue.

"Stone pelting started after the argument. During the violence, vehicles and a house in the vicinity was damaged," a police officer deployed for bandobast at Bhima Koregaon said without elaborating.

He said the police blocked the vehicular traffic on Pune-Ahmbednagar highway for sometime following the incident.

The traffic was finally resumed in evening.

The situation in the village is under control now.

"More police personnel, including companies of the SRPF, have been deployed to avoid any untoward incident," the officer said.

He said mobile phone networks were blocked for some time to stop the circulation of inflammatory messages.

The Battle of Bhima Koregaon was fought on January 1, 1818.

The British army, which had a large contingent of dalit Mahars, had defeated the Peshwas.

Some Dalit leaders and thinkers view it as a victory of oppressed classes over the upper-caste establishment of those times.

A Peshwa was the equivalent of a modern Prime Minister in the Maratha Empire. Originally, the Peshwas served as subordinates to the Chhatrapati (the Maratha king), but later, they became the de facto leaders of the Marathas.

Earlier in the day, dalit leader and Independent MLA from Gujarat, Jignesh Mevani visited the memorial in Bhima Koregaon.

Yesterday, he attended "Elgaar parishad" in Pune to commemorate the 'victory battle'.

Police have appealed to people to maintain calm and not to believe in rumours.

Section 144 of CrPc was already imposed in the area.

With inputs from PTI