After BMC closes busy Andheri (W) bridge, traffic chaos ensues

BMC's bridge demolition in Andheri West has caused major traffic chaos, affecting over 100 families and leading to long detours for commuters.

MUMBAI: The BMC’s process to demolish the bridge above Mogra Nallah in Andheri West has led to chaos in the area. Shastri Nagar Road in Andheri West, which connects P Tandon Marg to Sundervan Complex and passes by Bhaktivedanta School at Yavateshwar Marg, was shut on Wednesday night for the demolition, causing significant inconvenience to not just commuters but over 100 families living near the Shastri Nagar area.

The BMC’s process to demolish the bridge above Mogra Nallah in Andheri West has led to chaos in the area. Representative Image (Rafiq Maqbool / AP)

A civic official from the BMC’s bridges department said, “The bridge was declared dilapidated over a year ago. We have got an NOC from the traffic department now and have taken up the reconstruction. It will take 18 months.”

Shastri Nagar Road is an alternate road that passes through the two arterial roads—Link Road on the left side and Four Bungalows Road on the right side. “People use this road to cut through the traffic,” said Dhaval Shah, founder of the Lokhandwala Oshiwara Citizens Association (LOCA). “It is used by many pedestrians, commuters and the children and school buses of Bhaktivedanta School. Its shutting will cause major inconvenience.”

Kaushal Nagpal, a resident of Andheri West, pointed out that it was a tough situation for senior citizens in the area. “There was a mishap on Thursday where an elderly citizen fell and suffered a head injury,” he said.

Nagpal said that he could not bring his car inside his lane and had to park it on the main road. “We used to take the bridge to reach the building,” he said. More than 100 families have to park their cars on the main road and walk home. On top of all this, there’s a footpath being reconstructed. There is not a single footpath to walk on.”

Karan Jotwani, an Oshiwara resident, said that he used to take the road to visit his parents’ home in Shastri Nagar. “Now that it’s shut, I have to take Link Road but the BMC has started digging it up today near D N Nagar and it is jammed with traffic,” he said. “There was complete chaos today—we got numerous messages on our group from people saying they were stuck for half an hour to 40 minutes on Link Road.”

Jotwani said the second route available was the Four Bungalows Road. “But now because of Link Road and the D N Nagar Road signal being shut, a single lane is accommodating traffic on both the sides,” he said, decrying the fact that the BMC was taking up all road works at the same time. “The BMC should repair Link Road first and then shut down the bridge,” he said. “The bridge was marked unsafe a year and a half ago. But the BMC has decided to take it up now for reconstruction when so much other road work is going on. It is not thinking logically and has even dug up Four Bungalows Road.”

Jotwani added that earlier, when the bridge was functional, it would take him 10 minutes by car to reach Sundervan Lane in Shastri Nagar from Oshiwara. “But now it will take me a good 25 minutes,” he said.