Mumbai, May 31 (IANS): A 63-hour long ‘special mega block’ for infrastructure upgradation, implemented by the Central Railway on certain sections of its suburban network, threw Mumbai into a mega-chaos with delays in local trains, commuters flaring up in the heat, coupled with road snarls and crawling traffic, here on Friday.

The CR has launched its ‘mega-block’ on the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT)-Kalyan section on from 00.30 hrs of May 31 (Friday) and it will continue till 3.30 in the afternoon of June 2 (Sunday), said an official spokesperson.

The CR teams took up the upgrade works to widen Platform No. 5/6 at Thane station by dismantling the existing railway tracks, the overhead electrical wires, equipment, etc.

Expected to be completed by Sunday afternoon, the wider platform by around 3.05 metres, will enable seamless movement for commuters at this major station.

The other block is for the extension of the railway platform No. 10/11 to accommodate 24 coach trains at CSMT.

CR General Manager R. K. Yadav has appealed to the people to refrain from travelling unless absolutely necessary in view of the delays and curtailment in services.

The two simultaneous blocks of varying durations have hit suburban and long-distance train services with 42 outstation trains cancelled, and around 160 other trains are short-originating, short-terminating, or rescheduled, besides the crucial suburban time-tables going haywire.

Consequently, lakhs of daily commuters rushing to their workplaces have experienced huge delays during the morning peak hours, with services operated at long intervals of 20-30 minutes. and the cascading effects felt on the Western Railway and the CR's Harbour Line.

The railway stations in the Thane-Raigad sections were jam-packed with harried, perspiring commuters making a beeline to catch a local and reach their workplaces on time, though the authorities had deployed extra buses to clear the commuter rush.

Expecting commuting problems – a lesson learnt from past mega-blocks – many Mumbaikars opted to commute in their two-wheelers or cars, but they made slow and painful progress as the arterial roads, main thoroughfares and highways got clogged with vehicles.

A woman IT professional from Mulund, Mini P. Menon, who commutes a short distance to Ghatkopar in 15 minutes daily said she took a BEST bus but it took her over an hour to reach her workplace in the massive road traffic.

A Thane-based shipping consultant S. Bhaskaran said he spent over two hours by road to reach his office in Bandra Kurla Complex and he was resigned to a similar delay on his return journey home this evening.

Rattled by the surging crowds and the intense heat, many people decided to ‘work from home’ and those working five days availed a casual leave for a long weekend.