Commuters beware: After Gokhale, plans on to demolish 3 other bridges

Mumbai: While the Railways and Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) continue to squabble over timelines regarding the demolition of Gokhale Bridge, funds have been allocated and plans are afoot to demolish three other road over bridges (ROBs) built in the British era, in Mumbai Central, Prabhadevi and Dadar

Mumbai: While the Railways and Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) continue to squabble over timelines regarding the demolition of Gokhale Bridge, funds have been allocated and plans are afoot to demolish three other road over bridges (ROBs) built in the British era, in Mumbai Central, Prabhadevi and Dadar.

The budgetary allocation is not a sign that the projects will take off immediately, as a senior railway officer said on condition of anonymity, “Fund distribution is an indication of future plans. These ROBs require attention as they have become very old and are dangerous.” (Anshuman Poyrekar/HT PHOTO)

Just as citizens of Andheri have had to renegotiate their daily route of commute in the absence of Gokhale Bridge, those from central and south Mumbai must brace themselves for a similar eventuality in future.

Western Railway (WR) has received ₹2.57 crore for regirdering the Bellasis Bridge, built in 1893, connecting Mumbai Central and Grant Road, ₹ 1 lakh for Prabhadevi (Elphinstone Road) ROB and equal amount for Tilak Bridge, in Dadar.

However, the budgetary allocation is not a sign that the projects will take off immediately, as a senior railway officer said on condition of anonymity, “Fund distribution is an indication of future plans. These ROBs require attention as they have become very old and are dangerous.”

Multiple agencies will be involved in the projects, apart from WR and BMC; one of them, Maharashtra Rail Infrastructure Development Corporation Ltd (MRIDCL) will reconstruct a cable stayed bridge at Tilak Bridge, connecting Dadar east to west and Shivaji Park. Elphinstone Bridge makes for smooth traffic flow between Lower Parel, Prabhadevi and Worli to Eastern Express Highway (EEH). An officer from MRIDCL said, “We have completed the geotechnical work, shifting utilities at site and other tasks. The construction will begin after the handover of right of way by different authorities.”

As it forms an important link to major business districts, Tilak Bridge will be reconstructed in two phases – a new bridge will be built adjacent to the existing one so that traffic flow is not disturbed. Once it is up and running, the traffic will be diverted here and the old one demolished. In the second phase, reconstruction of the other side of the cable stay bridge will be completed – the length of each part is 600 meters and the job will cost ₹375 crore. The Bellasis Road Bridge is 250 meters long and is expected to be rebuilt at a cost of ₹150 crore.

While the new bridges will be cable-stayed, their designs could vary depending on factors such as the availability of land, obstruction from nearby buildings and others. This however would also mean trouble for motorists.

The Tilak Bridge in Dadar and the Elphinstone Road Bridge are important connectors to busy arterial roads such as Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Road and Senapati Bapat Road.

Tough road for commuters

Mumbai traffic police data shows over 30,000 to 40,000 vehicles passing on the two bridges by the hour every day. “The width of both the bridges is less compared to those of other interior roads which creates a bottleneck during peak hours. On Elphinstone Bridge, only a single vehicle can pass on either lane at a time,” said D Chavan, senior police inspector, Dadar traffic chowkie, insisting that in their new avatar, the width of the bridges be increased as it would help ease traffic greatly.

Raj Tilak Roushan, deputy commissioner of police, (traffic), however said that if the bridges are shut down for repair, commuters’ travel time will be hugely impacted. “Motorists will have to brace themselves for diversions via Chembur or Dharavi or Mahalakshmi Saat Rasta to get onto the other side,” said Roushan.

In 2018 the traffic police had carried out an experiment to unclog central Mumbai by making the congested Elphinstone Road and Currey Road bridges one-way. The experiment however failed in just four days.

Meanwhile, WR authorities claimed that 50 per cent work of removing the multi-tonne girders Gokhale Bridge was done and “the remaining work will be complete by the end of March this year”. An official said, “We have to carry out the work while with the trains running underway which is a tough job.”