From today, no more free rides. No more jams?

The euphoria around a novelty and the absence of a toll continued to create huge traffic snarls on the Bandra Worli Sea Link on Sunday. All day long, vehicle followed vehicle on the structure, knowing there would no more free rides after midnight.

The police had said earlier that the jams are likely to come down once the toll comes into effect. But on Sunday, asked whether they still expect traffic to be smoother, Joint Commissioner of Police (Traffic) Sanjay Barve said, "Your guess is as good as mine."

Of Sunday, Barve said, "Yes, there is a lot of traffic on the sea link today."

The traffic police sent out SMS messages to citizens in the evening, asking them to avoid the Bandra Worli Sea Link because of the jams.

Bandra Reclamation saw a massive row of vehicles waiting to get on the bridge. "I was headed from Andheri to Colaba and decided to use the sea link for the first time. I soon realised it was a mistake. From Bandra, it took me over half an hour just to get to the start of the bridge. The ride on the sea link itself was not bad though. I think the situation will improve once the toll is enforced," said Mukesh Tiwari, a businessman.

Later, mild rainfall caused further jams at Peddar Road and Haji Ali. The Worli sea face saw a long line of cars crawl towards the sea link, resulting in slow traffic on the sea link, too. Many got off their cars to walk on the bridge, while those at the wheel followed them. However, traffic in the other direction was relatively smooth.

"It took us nearly 40 minutes to get onto the bridge. Unless something is done about the Worli bottleneck, it will become a pain to use the sea link, and I, for one, will definitely keep away from it," said Anand Mathur, an IT professional, who had driven down from Babulnath to Khar.

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