Ganeshotsav 2025: Mumbai traffic advisory, dry day, banks shut & more!

As Mumbai prepares to welcome Ganpati from Wednesday, August 26, the city is bracing for massive processions, heavy traffic, and the seasonal monsoon downpours. To ensure smoother vehicular movement and public safety, the Mumbai Traffic Police issued a detailed advisory covering road restrictions, bus diversions, and precautions on old railway bridges.

Temporary curbs will be in place across high-density areas including Chembur, Chunabhatti, Trombay, Mankhurd, Mulund, Sakinaka, MIDC, Kandivali, Goregaon, Santacruz, DN Nagar, and Sahar. Entry of heavy vehicles is prohibited on arterial stretches such as Hemu Kalani Marg, Gidwani Marg, Ghatla Village Road, Dr. C. G. Marg, Sion-Panvel Highway, LBS Road, JVLR Road, and Madh-Marve Road.

In South Mumbai, several immersion routes are declared no-parking zones. Roads such as Devde Road, Juhu Tara Road, and Oshiwara Nala will be completely closed for traffic during the final processions.

With thousands of devotees expected to cross railway overbridges (ROBs), special safety measures have been introduced:

• No more than 100 people will be allowed on a bridge at a time.

• Dancing, halting, or use of loudspeakers is prohibited on bridges; celebrations should resume only after crossing.

• Certain older bridges, including Curry Road, Arthur Road (Chinchpokli), and Byculla, must not bear more than 16 tons of combined weight.

• The Shiv (Sion) Station Railway Bridge will remain closed to traffic.

Other bridges flagged for caution include Ghatkopar, Prabhadevi-Carroll, Lokmanya Tilak (Dadar), Marine Lines, Sandhurst Road, French Railway, Kennedy, Falkland, and Mahalaxmi.

To manage the flow of public transport, BEST buses will also follow temporary diversions:

• Dr. B. A. Road (Hindmata to Byculla) is closed for buses.

• Routes C1, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 19E will be diverted via Hindmata, Parel T.T., Acharya Donde Marg, Parel Village, G. D. Ambekar Marg, Kalachowki, Bai Nath Pai Marg, Ghodapdev, and E. S. Patanwala Marg.

• Routes 66 and 30 (down direction): After Shinde Wadi, buses will detour via Parel T.T., Jagannath Bhatnakar Road, Sant Rohidas Chowk, and Sane Guruji Road before rejoining at Byculla.

• Routes 14 and 57 (down direction): Diversion through Khanolkar Chowk, Acharya Donde Marg, Jagannath Bhatankar Marg, and Sane Guruji Marg.

• Routes 9, A134 and 69: Will travel via Dr. B. A. Road, Ranibagh, Hansraj Rathod Chowk, T. B. Kadam Marg, Tanaji Malusare Chowk, Kalachowki, G. D. Ambekar Road, and Parel Village before returning to Acharya Donde Road.

To ease travel for devotees, Mumbai Metro has significantly extended its service hours during Ganeshotsav 2025:

1. Lines 2A (Yellow) and 7 (Red)

   • Extended operation: till midnight (instead of 11 PM)

   • Dates: 27 August – 6 September

   • 12 extra trains daily

   • Weekday services: 317 trips

   • Frequency: every 5 min 50 sec (peak), every 9 min 30 sec (non-peak)

   • Weekend services: 256 runs (Saturday), 229 runs (Sunday) with 10-minute intervals

2. Line 3 (Aqua Line)

   • Early start: 6:30 AM (instead of 8:30 AM)

   • Extended till midnight

   • Effective from 31 August through the festival period

3. Mumbai Metro One (Blue Line 1)

   • Last train from Versova to Ghatkopar: 12:15 AM

   • Last train from Ghatkopar to Versova: 12:40 AM

   • Dates: 27 August – 6 September

Today, Wednesday 27 August 2025, both schools and banks are closed in Mumbai and across Maharashtra for Ganesh Chaturthi, which is a state-recognised public holiday. All government and most private schools remain shut, while banks are also observing the closure under the Reserve Bank of India’s official holiday calendar. Although online banking and ATMs remain functional, physical branches are not operating today.

Essential services such as ambulances, milk vans, bakery supply, water and petroleum tankers, government and semi-government vehicles, are exempted from the advisory. Expect slower surface travel, bus detours and localised full closures during processions. Separately, today is a dry day in Mumbai for Ganesh Chaturthi and the Visarjan day will carry similar controls.

Mumbai Police has urged citizens to:

• Use public transport as much as possible.

• Avoid restricted routes during immersion days.

• Cooperate with the traffic police and municipal staff to ensure safe and smooth celebrations.

Ganeshotsav, one of Mumbai’s grandest festivals, is expected to bring lakhs of devotees onto the streets. With the new safety and traffic measures, authorities are aiming to balance devotion with discipline.