Bridge from Mindspace to Malad Marve Road awaiting HC green signal

The bridge will offer residents and office-goers an alternative to the perennially choked New Link Road in Malad West.

Mumbai: Another bridge that ties into the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s (BMC’s) grand Mumbai Coastal Road project is the Ramchandra Bridge, connecting Mindspace in Malad West to the Malad-Marve Road.

Mumbai, India. July 14, 2025: The BMC plans to construct a vehicular bridge and an elevated road over Ramchandra Nallah, connecting Mindspace to Malvani, to alleviate congestion on the link road. Mumbai, India. July 14, 2025. (Photo by Raju Shinde/ Hindustan Times) (Raju Shinde)

The bridge will offer residents and office-goers an alternative to the perennially choked New Link Road in Malad West, as well as a connection to an interchange part of the upcoming Versova-Bhayandar Coastal Road. However, the wait for this new bridge is likely to take till 2028 at least.

Initially conceived in the BMC’s Development Plan 2034, the bridge got legs in 2021. Anticipating that some mangroves would have to be felled to construct it, as the area falls under a Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ), the BMC appointed a consultant to obtain the required environmental clearances.

Come 2022, the BMC approached the Maharashtra Coastal Zone Management Authority (MCZMA) for clearances, only to be asked to return with proper feasibility studies. This prompted the civic body back to the drawing board.

“The bridge will be a stainless steel girder on stilts to minimise the effect on the mangroves, which are minimal already due to the path, which is closer to the landward side where buildings are already present,” said an official from the BMC’s bridge department. “0.7 hectares [of mangroves] will be affected, and the BMC has already paid ₹15 lakh for the diversion of those trees.”

The official added that the BMC has received the necessary clearances from the state forest department and mangrove cell, the MCZMA, the Maharashtra Maritime Board and the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests, but still needs a nod from the Bombay high court. “Currently, we are in the midst of preparing a draft to seek permissions from the Bombay high court, which is needed when mangroves are to be diverted,” said the official.

The BMC is also awaiting the resolution of a case pending in the high court regarding land acquisitions for the bridge. An officer from the BMC’s P North ward, covering Malad, explained the hold-up: “A land owner in Mindspace, Sargam Sthapatya Pvt Ltd, has filed a case in the Bombay high court, as his land would undergo some changes due to the bridge. We are awaiting resolution on the same, and are arranging a meeting for some compensation.”

Once this hurdle is cleared, the BMC will proceed with getting the last remaining permission from the high court.

“We hope to begin work on the bridge in October,” said the official from the bridge department. “This bridge will be helpful on one level for local residents, who will get an alternative to the New Link Road traffic. But as there is a coastal road interchange coming up at Mindspace, behind Evershine Nagar, this will be the bridge to take leading to it.”

Residents agreed with the need of an alternative to the New Link Road, but sounded dubious as to when the proposed bridge would become a reality.

“The area around definitely has traffic,” said Pratik Salgaonkar, a lawyer who lives in Malwani. “Due to the coastal road work being done at Mindspace, which is an office area with call centres and IT offices, the detour we have to take results in traffic along a half-kilometre stretch from Infiniti Mall to the Link Road. The Link Road, too, has the traffic that has not come to be expected as standard. This Ramchandra Bridge is still in the planning stage, so there is a while to go before it comes up.”

Another commuter, Jagdeep Shah, who travels in the area daily, said the congestion on New Link Road is due to poor traffic regulation. “Despite the New Link Road being a three-lane road in each direction, one lane is always occupied by parking. Then, there are hawkers in the evenings when the area becomes a market area, wrong-side driving, auto rickshaws driving haphazardly, all of which makes the ride a risky one,” he said.

There is a possibility the bridge may get an additional arm leading near the Atharva College of Engineering on Malad-Marve Road, following requests from MLAs Aslam Shaikh of Malad West and Yogesh Sagar of Charkop. This additional arm will ease connectivity from Charkop and Malwani, too. But the BMC official stated that the plan is still in a preliminary stage, with traffic studies still being connected to check for feasibility.