Ganpati festival: Prabhadevi residents fear access issues amid Siddhivinayak crowd measures

The upcoming Ganpati festival has residents around Siddhivinayak Temple in Prabhadevi worried that crowdmanagement measures could make it difficult for them to access their homesThe templersquos front entrance facing the petrol pump is expected to remain temporarily shut during renovation work which is likely to take about two years Devotees are expected to be directed towards the rear entrance near the groundResidents fear queues and increased footfall could spill into nearby residential lanes with some society gates potentially being kept shut during peak hoursConstruction material is stored near Siddhivinayak Temple PicRitika GondhalekarThey say this could affect residents senior citizens children domestic workers delivery staff and emergency vehiclesWhat residents are worried aboutTemple renovationFront gate near the petrol pump expected to remain shutDevotee movementCrowds likely to be directed towards the reargroundside entranceResidents protest against the proposed crowdmanagement and renovation arrangements near Siddhivinayak Temple PicBy Special ArrangementResidential accessNearby society gates could be affected by queues and crowd movementEmergency accessResidents fear ambulances fire engines cabs and other vehicles could face difficulty enteringTemple trust lsquoThere will be some inconveniencersquoThe Siddhivinayak Temple entrance on the petrolpump side where renovation work is expected to affect access PicsSayyed Sameer AbediPawan Tripathi treasurer Siddhivinayak TrustlsquoThough the temple is going to benefit from the renovation works the project is of BMC The area where renovation works will be done is under the BMC For us all are important But residents who live here need to accept the fact that there will be some inconvenience We have told the authorities to look for a midwayrsquoLocal authority flags another concernThe road leading to Siddhivinayak Templersquos rear entrance where barricades are expected to be installed for crowd managementYashwant Killedar local corporatorlsquoThere is a school on the ground side gate Also the flower vendors on the petrol pump side will also have to face the brunt as no devotees will be going from there Also the blueprint that was shown according to that the templersquos petrol side entrance can be kept partially openrsquoResidents SpeakThe front gate of Siddhivinayak Temple which devotees are expected to be diverted away fromRupesh Narwekar residentlsquoWe understand that the temple needs to make arrangements for the renovation works and we have no objection to devotees coming for darshan But if our main gate is kept shut or is blocked how are senior citizens children and people carrying groceries supposed to enter We cannot be expected to take a long detour every time we have to come homersquoRaj Narwekar residentlsquoOur society gate is used by residents throughout the day If it is blocked because of the queues even cabs and autos will not be able to come inside For people returning from work this will become a daily nightmare God forbid what if there is an emergency like a fire accident or someone needing to be shifted to hospital in an ambulance How will these emergency services reach usrsquoManisha Joshi residentlsquoOne gate of our building is on the petrol pump side where the temple has its main gate no 1 Unfortunately the other society gate is in the lane behind where the temple has its second main gate Now using the petrol pump side gate will be difficult as continuously big vehicles carrying renovation materials will ply and considering that all devotees will be diverted to the groundside gate it will also block our other gate What are we supposed to dorsquo