The exemption will be from August 23 to September 8 for Mumbai-Bengaluru National Highway, Mumbai-Goa National Highway and roads under the Public Works Department and Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC)
The decision will benefit lakhs of devotees, Eknath Shinde said. File Pic
Ahead of the Ganesh festival 2025, Maharashtra Deputy CM Eknath Shinde on Thursday said that the vehicles of Ganesh devotees going to Konkan and state transport buses ferrying them will be exempted from toll, reported the PTI.
The exemption will be from August 23 to September 8 for Mumbai-Bengaluru National Highway, Mumbai-Goa National Highway and roads under the Public Works Department and Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC).
A special pass with toll exemption under Ganeshotsav 2025 will be given bearing the details of vehicle number and its owner, as per the PTI.
These passes will be available with concerned regional transport authority offices, police department and will also be applicable for return journey, a statement said.
City and rural police and RTOs able been asked to coordinate to provide timely passes to the devotees.
Lakhs of devotees go to their hometown in Konkan to celebrate the annual Ganesh festival which falls in the Bhadrapad month.
The decision will benefit lakhs of devotees, Eknath Shinde said.
Heavy vehicles banned on Mumbai-Goa Highway on different days during Ganesh festival
Meanwhile, heavy vehicles will be prohibited from plying on the Mumbai-Goa National Highway in run up and during the most days of the 10-day Ganesh festival beginning on August 27 for convenience of motorists, said a senior Maharashtra government official on Wednesday, according to the PTI.
The nearly 500-km-long NH-66, which passes through the coastal Konkan region, sees a heavy rush of Lord Ganesh devotees during and immediately after the festival.
Joint secretary in the transport department Rajendra Holkar informed that vehicles weighing 16 tonnes or more will be banned from plying on the busy highway during the Ganesh festival in the interest of public convenience, reported the PTI.
In an official statement, Holkar stated that the ban, which will not apply to vehicles carrying essential commodities, has been imposed under provisions of Section 155 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988. The restriction will apply to trucks, multi-axle vehicles, trailers, lorries and other heavy vehicles from midnight of August 23 to 11 pm on August 28, as per the PTI.
Further curbs will be enforced on August 31 and September 2 from 8 am to 11 pm to facilitate the immersion of Lord Ganesh idols of five and seven days, Gauri Ganpati idols, and the return journeys of devotees, said the statement.
For the immersion of 11-day idols on Anant Chaturdashi, the ban will be in place from 8 am on September 6 until 8 pm on September 7.
According to Holkar, during the intervening periods heavy vehicles will be permitted to ply on the highway.
These include from 11 pm of August 28 to 8 am of August 31, from 11 pm of August 31 to 8 am of September 2, and from 11 pm of September 2 to 8 am of September 6. Normal traffic movement for all vehicles will resume after 8 pm on September 7.
Holkar clarified restrictions will not apply to vehicles transporting import-export goods between Jawaharlal Nehru Port Authority (JNPA) in Navi Mumbai and Jaigad Port (Ratnagiri district) or those carrying essential commodities such as milk, petrol, diesel, LPG cylinders, medicines, liquid medical oxygen, food grains, vegetables and perishable items.
Vehicles engaged in road widening and repair works on the highway will also be exempted, he stated.
He stated that the transport authorities and highway police will issue entry passes for vehicles engaged in exempted services.
(with PTI inputs)
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