Civic chief orders rehab of PAPs for Andheri-Ghatkopar flyover project

The new flyover, a portion of which will replace the 78-year-old, British-era Ghatkopar rail overbridge (ROB), will start from the Golibar Road junction near LBS Marg on the Andheri-Ghatkopar Link Road and extend till the Eastern Express Highway (EEH)

MUMBAI: Plans for a new flyover along the Andheri-Ghatkopar Link Road, an important east-west connector, are inching forward. With its deadline for completion already postponed by two years, the civic administration has taken a step forward by ordering the immediate rehabilitation of eligible Project Affected Persons (PAPs) along the link road. The order was issued by municipal commissioner Bhushan Gagrani himself, who visited the project site on Thursday.

Civic chief orders rehab of PAPs for Andheri-Ghatkopar flyover project

The new flyover, a portion of which will replace the 78-year-old, British-era Ghatkopar rail overbridge (ROB), will start from the Golibar Road junction near LBS Marg on the Andheri-Ghatkopar Link Road and extend till the Eastern Express Highway (EEH), connecting Ghatkopar east and Ghatkopar west. It will ease traffic congestion on the arterial LBS Marg.

The Ghatkopar ROB came under the BMC’s scrutiny after the Gokhale bridge mishap in 2018, prompting structural audits of bridges all over Mumbai by the Indian Institute of Technology-Bombay in 2018. Work orders were issued for the new flyover in 2022 but the project has made no major headway since.

Being built by the Maharashtra Rail Infrastructure Development Corporation (MahaRail), the new ROB will receive financial support from the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) and will be executed in two phases.

“The portion over the railway tracks will be a cable-stayed bridge, while the portion over LBS Road will be a bowstring steel span. This is so that long spans can be constructed without pillars, minimising traffic disruption on the road below. The bridge will also crisscross two metro lines and the bullet train,” said a civic official.

During his inspection of the first phase on Thursday, Gagrani stressed the need for rehabilitation of all eligible residential and commercial PAPs, with close coordination with the Slum Rehabilitation Authority (SRA). He also issued orders for a structural audit of the existing ROB, to ensure a temporary ban on heavy vehicles along the stretch in coordination with the traffic police, and a plan for alternative routes for smooth traffic flow during the construction period.