Mumbai Rains: Drought of devotees for Ganpati Bappa's darshan

Not a single devotee can be seen at the Andheri cha Raja yesterday

The spell of very heavy rain on Wednesday put a dampener on the Ganesh festival, as very few devotees were able to make it to Ganesh Galli's Mumbaicha Raja, Lalbaugcha Raja and other major mandals for darshan.

According to an official, few devotees arrived at Lalbaug as compared to other days, due to the heavy rain. Another reason for the less footfall was that the rain affected all three lines on the railways. Many people take the Central Railway and alight at Currey Road or Chinchpokli stations for the darshan of Lalbaugcha Raja. Many also take the Western Railway and get off at Lower Parel.

Deepak Singh, a shopkeeper in Ganesh Galli said, "Due to the heavy rain few people have arrived. This also impacts our business, but we have faith in God. The rain will stop and people will start coming."

Rajesh Jadhav who came for the darshan of Lalbaugcha Raja said, "I came with my family and we thought there would be a huge crowd. But due to the rain there were few people and we got Bappa's darshan in few hours."

Swapnil Parab, secretary of Ganesh Galli Ganesh Mandal said, "In the afternoon when there was heavy rain, few people arrived. But since the rain stopped, more people have started coming."

Other Ganesh mandals also witnessed the same scene. The mandap of Andheri Ka Raja was waterlogged. The mandap at Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar mandal in Chembur, which is well-known for its decorations, was also waterlogged.

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