Traffic Alerts, Increased Security: All About Preparations For Victory Parade Of T20 World Champs In Mumbai Today

The Mumbai Police has made elaborate arrangements for the road show of the T20 World Cup-winning Indian cricket team on Thursday evening in Mumbai’s Marine Drive where a large number of fans are expected to gather to watch the procession. Traffic alerts have been sent out for easy traffic flow and several security personnel have been deployed to maintain law and order.

Meanwhile, artisans and workers are busy giving final touches to the bus that’ll ferry the men in blue to the felicitation stage.

The T20 World Cup-winning Indian cricket team returned to the country on Thursday morning aboard a specially arranged charter flight and headed to the Prime Minister’s residence soon after. They met PM Modi and interacted with him.

Grand Celebration for T20 World Cup Champions

The victory procession will be held between 5 and 7 pm from Nariman Point to the Wankhede Stadium.

“There will be a road show from Nariman Point in an open bus and later we will honour and felicitate the players with the prize money of Rs 125 crore as announced,” BCCI vice-president Rajeev Shukla told news agency PTI.

A felicitation event at the Wankhede is also planned for the members of the Indian team.

The squad on Saturday won the country its second T20 world title, ending an 11-year wait for an ICC trophy. India’s previous ICC title was in 2013 when it won the Champions Trophy under Mahendra Singh Dhoni.

A similar roadshow was held on the path 14 years ago when MS Dhoni’s team had beaten arch-rivals Pakistan in the final of the inaugural 2007 World T20 in South Africa. However, that year, the parade followed a longer route (30 km), and fans got a chance to be part of the celebration from Mumbai airport to Wankhede Stadium.

Shiv Sena leader Pratap Sarnaik said, “Today’s programme in Mumbai has been organised by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). Team India players from Mumbai, including Captain Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav, Shivam Dubey and Yashasvi Jaiswal will come to the Maharashtra Assembly tomorrow to meet CM Eknath Shinde. Being a member of MCA, I invited the players and they have accepted my invitation.”

How to Watch the Parade Live

Traffic Advisory

Since the parade will start from Nariman Point and will end at Wankhede, Marine Drive is likely to witness massive traffic congestion. In addition to this, the Churchgate area might also see increased vehicular queueing.

Issuing guidelines, the Mumbai Police released directions, containing parking restrictions on roads, road closures, as well as parking arrangement for July 4. Additionally, the police requested commuters to use public transport such as railways and trains to avoid traffic jams.

As per the guidelines, the NS Road (North Bound) and NS Road (South Bound) will remain closed for all types of vehicular traffic except emergency vehicles proceeding both bounds. Veer Nariman Road, Dinshaw Vaccha Road, Madam Cama Road, Barrister Rajni Patel Marg and Vinay K Shah Marg will also be closed for all types of vehicular traffic.

The new traffic arrangements will be in place from 3 pm to 9 pm.

“A grand victory parade is organised on July 4, 2024 for the Indian cricket team, winner of the T20 World Cup at Marine Drive. To avoid inconvenience to the commuters, following traffic arrangements will be in place from 3 pm to 9 pm today,” Mumbai Police said in a tweet.

Security arrangements

As a large number of people are expected to gather for the event, police are taking utmost precaution to avoid any untoward incident, an official said.

Adequate security is being deployed at the Marine Drive between Nariman Point and Wankhede Stadium, the official said.

Joint Commissioner of Police (Law and Order) Satyanarayan Choudhary, Additional CP South, Abhinav Deshmukh, and DCP Zone 1, Pravin Munde visited the Wankhede Stadium to assess security arrangements. The police officials held a meeting with the MCA Secretary and other office bearers. They passed some instructions about frisking and other security protocols during today’s event.