Part of Gokhale bridge to reopen by Diwali, says BMC

Mumbai's Gopal Krishna Gokhale bridge, which was supposed to partially reopen before monsoon, will now open by Diwali in November, according to the BMC.

Mumbai: Andheri’s nodal Gopal Krishna Gokhale bridge, a part of which was to reopen before monsoon, is now set to open by Diwali in November, according to Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC).

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Gokhale Bridge, a primary east-west link in the western suburbs, was dismantled due to its poor structural health in November last year.

The BMC had earlier set a deadline of reopening the bridge partially by the end of May, while it planned on reopening the entire bridge for public use by October end.

The missing of this earlier deadline was attributed to a delay in the supply of raw materials due to a strike in one of the plants of Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL).

Under tremendous pressure from commuters to open at least one lane of the bridge during monsoon, a site inspection of the bridge was conducted by MLA Ameet Satam and P Velrasu, additional municipal commissioner (projects) on Thursday.

Satam has given reassurance that one lane of the Gokhale bridge will open by Diwali.

“Work on the BMC portion is almost complete and will be fully complete by this month end. Two piers on the railway portion are in progress and will be complete by the end month. The assembly of girders will start in August. The launch of the girder in the railway portion will be completed by September end and subsequently the connecting portion between the BMC portion and railway portion. After the girder launch, slab and concreting work will commence.”

Satam said there was no issue of steel now and no other issue and work will be as per timeliness as mentioned by BMC.

“We look at starting one lane by Diwali,” added Satam.

Velrasu confirmed to Hindustan Times the abovementioned deadlines.

Dinesh Mehta, part of Gokhale bridge ASAP group of commuters who are functioning as a pressure group for the BMC said, “I think when we talk about any auspicious thing we talk about some festival and the MLA has notionally given the Diwali date.”

But Mehta said that as per the schedule that citizens have discussed with Ulhas Mahale, the deputy municipal commissioner(infrastructure) has told them that one lane will open by October 20.

“As someone who believes in the timely opening of the bridge, I am reassured by MLA Satam’s statement that there will be no further delay. I am a little relieved today that BMC is taking care of the dates. People are watching and inquiring.”

Mehta said that the pressure group of commuters was formed to set an example as they didn’t want it to meet the same fate as the Delisle bridge which slugged on for five years.

“We are a citizens’ watch group to change the culture of delay and especially about projects which concern millions of commuters. Andheri East and Andheri West in itself is a city with 30 lakh people. In my estimate, people are losing ₹50 lakh to ₹1 crore in fuel expenses alone. By using the sealink, I am paying ₹85 for just 10 minutes early arrival. Here it takes one hour more and so one can calculate what the time loss is for commuters?” said Mehta.