The Mumbai police had to deploy around 5,000 personnel at Marine Drive and Wankhede stadium as a crowd of around 300,000 descended to witness the Indian cricket team’s victory parade after winning the T20 World Cup.
“We had done elaborate planning and deployed 5,000 personnel, including around 300 police officers,” said Satyanarayan Chaudhary, Joint Commissioner of Police, Law and Order, Greater Mumbai.
“All senior officers were present at Marine Drive or the airport from where the team travelled. We had some experience of the 2007 T20 World Cup, but it was long ago. We coordinated with the Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) and the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to plan the bandobast at Wankhede stadium,” Chowdhary added.
Another senior officer said the police force was deployed at strategic spots, which helped control and regulate the crowd flow at both Marine Drive and Wankhede. The team’s open bus had a Quick Response Team (QRT) escorting it, while there were also other police personnel around the bus. On the Marine Drive promenade, several police officers were on the lookout for any anti-social elements.
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While the bus parade began post 7:30 pm, fans had started gathering at Marine Drive from as early as 3 pm. “People came from all over the city. Officegoers who left their workplaces early, college students and families all joined the parade wearing Team India jerseys. The police were asked to make sure anti-social elements and thieves don’t steal at the venue, but also ensure there is no stampede. It was a happy time and we didn’t want to restrict people,” said a police officer from Marine Drive police station.
Despite the police’s arrangements, there was a stampede-like situation at several places along the route of the victory parade. At some spots, the police had to resort to minor lathi charges as there was no place to move. About a dozen children went missing in the crowd but were reunited with their parents. Fourteen people were admitted to hospital with minor injuries or breathing problems due to the crowd. They were all discharged on Thursday itself.
Although difficult, the traffic police succeeded in managing vehicular traffic in south Mumbai, according to Anil Kumbhare, Joint Commissioner of Police (Traffic). “As a large number of people had gathered for the event, we had taken utmost precaution to avoid any untoward incident,” said Kumbhare. “We had deployed adequate security at the Marine Drive promenade and Wankhede Stadium.”
The Mumbai traffic police had closed all the roads leading to Marine Drive and the Wankhede stadium for vehicles from Thursday afternoon. It also requested establishments around the venue to grant leaves to their employees in the second half to reduce the crowd as much as possible.
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In a post on X, the traffic police had said, “In view of [the] victory rally of [the] Indian cricket team, the traffic movements were likely to be congested from NCPA to Wankhede stadium from 3pm to 9pm on 4th July. Users were advised to use an alternate route via Churchgate, M.K. road, Metro Junction to Princess Street flyover towards the northbound journey. The southbound traffic towards Wankhede Stadium was also likely to be congested due to which MTP requested to plan journey accordingly.”
However, traffic snarls were reported at Girgaon Chowpatty, New Queens Road, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Road, and NS Patkar Marg. Vehicular movement was also affected on Maharshi Karve Road near Churchgate station and VN Road, Shahid Bhagat Singh Road and P D’Mello Road around Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus. The police also had to divert the convoy of the Indian cricket team through Metro Junction to reach Marine Drive.
Despite the traffic restrictions being declared in advance, several fans landed at Marine Drive in their vehicles, which remained stuck on the road till the crowd dispersed. Pradnaya Jedge, deputy commissioner of police (traffic), said that people were irritated and asked many questions about the diversions. But since the advisory was issued well in advance, the police could manage the flow. “There were fewer vehicles in South Mumbai today compared to other days, which was helpful,” said Jedge.
The Railway Protection Force (RPF) and the Government Railway Police (GRP) had also made announcements at railway stations asking citizens to avoid going towards Marine Drive. More than 400 RPF and GRP personnel were deployed for crowd management at Churchgate station. No untoward incident was reported, said a senior RPF official.
Western Railway announced that it would run an extra service for Borivali around 9.30 pm to clear the extra rush. The situation was chaotic at the Central Railway’s Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus as many train services were delayed.
With inputs from PTI
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