The unsafe Dombivli road overbridge (ROB) will be shut for all traffic from Sunday evening. The ROB had been declared unsafe in an audit carried out by the Indian Institute of Technology-Bombay (IIT-B) in May 2019.
On Friday, Kalyan Dombivli Municipal Corporation (KDMC) commissioner Govind Bodke wrote to the deputy commissioner of traffic police about the 39-year-old ROB. “We have asked the traffic police to close the bridge for all vehicles soon or the traffic department will be held responsible for any tragedy,” said Bodke.
“We have received a letter asking to shut the bridge. The traffic police will enforce the same on Sunday evening. The bridge will be shut for all types of vehicles from Sunday evening,” confirmed Amit Kale, deputy commissioner of traffic police, Thane. The traffic department has asked the civic body to provide traffic wardens who will help ensure smooth traffic flow once the bridge is shut. The KDMC has agreed to provide 10 wardens.
“We will need at least 25 traffic wardens to handle the vehicles heading towards the bridge,” said a traffic officer requesting anonymity. “The roads which connect to the bridge should be pothole free and also decongested by evicting the hawkers,” he said.
{{/usCountry}}“We will need at least 25 traffic wardens to handle the vehicles heading towards the bridge,” said a traffic officer requesting anonymity. “The roads which connect to the bridge should be pothole free and also decongested by evicting the hawkers,” he said.
{{/usCountry}}In July, the ROB was shut for heavy vehicles. Later, on August 21, heavy vehicles were barred from using the bridge. Vehicles were diverted to the newly-built Thakurli ROB. However, this led to congestion in the narrow lane leading to the bridge.
Vishwanath Biwalkar, founder of Eagle Brigade foundation, which often works with the traffic police to ease congestion, warned, “Those wanting to connect to Thane will be stuck in Dombivli traffic for hours if the bridge is shut.”
The traffic police told HT that potholes caused the congestion in Dombivli. Traffic inspector SN Jadhav offered assurances that vehicles would be properly diverted to manage traffic.
Meanwhile, the KDMC has appointed a consultant for the repair work on the bridge, which will be carried out by KDMC, the Railways and IIT-B. “We have appointed a consultant to prepare the design and other details of the repair work. The work will begin once the consultant submits the reports with the estimated cost,” said Sapna Koli, city engineer, KDMC.