No interference between Games baton relay and twin festivals

A route has finally been worked out for the Commonwealth Games Queen’s Baton Relay and the Mumbai Police, who were once worried, now say it will not interfere with the simultaneous Eid and Ganesh Chaturthi celebrations.

“The baton will come on September 10 at the Gateway of India. From there, it will go to Regal, Madam Cama Road, Godrej junction, Mantralaya, Air India junction, D Tata Road and NCPA. The baton will then go back to Air India junction, NS Road, Veer Nariman Road, Churchgate station, High Court junction, Hutatma Chowk, MG Road, S D’Mello Road and back to the University. It is scheduled to reach the campus by 1 pm. After a lunch ceremony, the baton will be taken to Goregaon by 3 pm the same day along the Western Express Highway,” Dy CP (Traffic) Nandkumar Chaugule said.

On September 12, the baton will leave the city for Surat.

As the relay will reach Goregaon in the afternoon, there is no possibility of a clash with the Eid celebrations, Chaugule said. “As it is, our officials will be on the streets in order to deal with the Eid crowds since earlier in the day and we do not anticipate trouble,” he said.

On Ganesh Chaturthi celebrations, he said, “The festival starts on September 11 when the idols will be installed. This will leave our officials free to take care of the traffic situation during Ganesh Chaturthi.”

The relay began from Buckingham Palace on October 29. Its route includes 170,000 km through 70 Commonwealth nations in 240 days, and 20,000 km across India’s state and UT capitals in 100 days. The 340-day total of 190,000 km makes the 2010 rally one of the longest in CWG history.