Protesters cook food on a pavement during the actvist Manoj Jarange-led Maratha reservation agitation, at Azad Maidan, in Mumbai.
Credit: PTI Photo
Mumbai: As Manoj Jarange Patil led Maratha reservation demand agitation entered the second day on Saturday, the South Mumbai area woke up to a massive traffic mess as the protestors blocked the crucial square off the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus and the Brihan Mumbai Municipal Corporation headquarters.
The roads from the square lead to the Gateway of India, Mantralaya, Vidhan Bhavan, Churchgate, Metro Cinema and the Western Naval Command headquarters.
The protestors complained about lack of food, water, morning ablation facilities and squatted on the roads. They also complained about several hotels and khau galli being closed in the South Mumbai area.
Braving heavy rains, Jarange continued to be in the shed at the Azad Maidan, where he is undertaking indefinite hunger strike while hundreds of supporters spent the night at the CSMT and suburban railway stations and porches in the buildings of the Fort area.
Officials of the Mumbai Police and Mumbai Traffic Police are requesting the crowd to move to the Azad Maidan, the designated area for protests.
As a mark of protest, the agitators are cooking ‘poha’ off the CSMT-BMC HQ area - even as they engaged in intense sloganeering against the politicians.
After repeated requests by police officials and appeals by Jarange, they cleared the road. In the evening, many of the protesters entered the Jehangir Art Gallery.