City chokes for the second day as Maratha agitation continues

The traffic police, in desperate advisories on X, urged motorists to stay away from routes leading to Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT) and Azad Maidan. But the warnings did little to help those already trapped. Near CSMT, a handful of BEST buses and hundreds of cars were left stranded for two hours as protesters blocked the road, moving only to allow an ambulance through

MUMBAI: For the second day in a row, Mumbai ground to a halt as over 25,000 Maratha protesters surged into the city on Friday, answering the call of activist Manoj Jarange-Patil, who began an indefinite hunger strike at Azad Maidan.

Navi Mumbai, India - Aug. 30, 2025:View of Vashi creek bridge during the ongoing Maratha protest causing a massive traffic jam on the Vashi Creek Bridge for vehicles heading towards Mumbai. in Navi Mumbai, India, on Saturday, August 30, 2025. (Photo by Bachchan Kumar/ HT PHOTO) (HT PHOTO)

The scale of the mobilisation—allowed under extended police permission—paralysed arterial roads, swamped railway stations, and left commuters trapped in hours-long traffic snarls across South and Central Mumbai. Offices in Fort, Nariman Point and Lower Parel wore a deserted look as workers from the suburbs either logged in from home or abandoned the commute altogether.

By noon, the city’s lifelines had collapsed. The Eastern Freeway—normally a swift gateway into South Mumbai—was reduced to a parking lot, with cars and buses stranded in gridlock for hours. The ripple effect stretched far beyond: the Sion-Panvel highway near Vashi bridge was throttled, the Atal Setu bridge crawled, and the Eastern Express Highway moved at a snail’s pace.

“It was unbearable,” said Nitin Sherkhane, a 34-year-old contractor. “A one-hour ride from Koparkhairane to Dadar took me four hours.”

The traffic police, in desperate advisories on X, urged motorists to stay away from routes leading to Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT) and Azad Maidan. But the warnings did little to help those already trapped. Near CSMT, a handful of BEST buses and hundreds of cars were left stranded for two hours as protesters blocked the road, moving only to allow an ambulance through. Many protesters had arrived in vehicles of their own, which they parked haphazardly along roadsides. Some even set up makeshift kitchens, cooking meals on the pavement.

The police have extended the permission for quota protests for Sunday as well after an application was received by them from Manoj Jarange Patil. “We have extended the permission for Sunday,” said a police officer.

The siege of CSMT

If the roads were overwhelmed, the city’s biggest railway hub turned into the movement’s nerve centre. From Friday night, thousands of Jarange-Patil’s supporters poured into CSMT after long journeys from villages across Maharashtra. Seeking shelter from heavy rains and awaiting their leader’s fast, they turned the station into a sea of orange.

The concourse, ticket counters, and platforms were crammed with men and women in orange caps and scarves stamped with “Mi Pan Jarange” (I too am Jarange). The crowd spilled into the grand staircases and the entrance of Central Railway’s headquarters. The terminus’s air-conditioned toilets were left filthy, as exhausted protesters queued to wash up before marching on to Azad Maidan.

Several senior officers like Joint commissioner of police, Law and Order, Satyanarayan Choudhary, Additional commissioner of police, Abhinav Deshmukh and DCP Pravin Kumar Munde with several officials tried to convince the protestors to unblock the road which was leading to huge traffic jams and cascading effect on traffics on P D’Mello Road, Mahapalika Marg, Hazarimal Somani Marg, resulting in blocking of the Eastern Freeway, said the police.

The officials tried to convince the Maratha protestors however they were in no mood to listen the police even showed them the audio and video clips of their leader Manoj Jarange Patil who asked them to co-operate with police and not trouble Mumbaikars.

Finally the traffic police asked the vehicle owner to reverse vehicles and later around 11 am the traffic blockage was removed.

Even the trains themselves weren’t spared. Packed local trains on the Harbour and Main lines were hijacked by the activists, who chanted slogans, squeezed into ladies’ compartments, and staged sit-ins at stations.

By Saturday afternoon, the stream of protesters had coalesced at Azad Maidan, where Jarange-Patil launched his hunger strike, demanding reservations for the Maratha community in jobs and education.

But the show of strength was felt most acutely outside the protest grounds—in the suffocated streets, the crippled transport corridors, and the stranded commuters of Mumbai, a city forced to bend under the weight of a movement.