Dismantling of Bandra skywalk restarts

Raja Rahebar Khan, a former municipal corporator from Bandra West, discussed the issues faced by pedestrians due to the dismantling of the skywalk

The dismantling of the skywalk from Bandra railway station to the Lucky junction on SV Road is set to commence again. A large portion of the skywalk had already been dismantled around seven months ago to make way for the Metro line 2B (DN Nagar to Mandale). While the safety cover at the sides of the skywalk was removed, the pillars, the walkway and metal bars around it remained.

Mumbai, India - May 23, 2024: The work of demolishing the sky walk, which is disturbing the historical beauty of Bandra station, has started from today in Mumbai, India, on Thursday, May 23, 2024. (Photo by Satish Bate/ Hindustan Times) (Hindustan Times)

“Bandra station has been restored and returned to its beautiful state,” said Ashish Shelar, the Bharatiya Janata Party MLA from the area. “Work has also been done on streamlining the traffic at the station. Only the eyesore of the skywalk remains, with the pillars obstructing the movement of pedestrians on the ground. It will be removed.”

Shelar added that the skywalk had been transferred from the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), which is demolishing the skywalk. “If the skywalk is not being used, and the remaining portion is being used by drug users, it’s better it does not remain at all,” he said. “It’s blocking the view to the sky. With it gone, views of the Bandra station will be unblocked.”

Shelar invited the imam of the mosque next to Bandra station to break a coconut to signal the restarting of the skywalk’s dismantling. “When people come to pray in the mosque here, on the floors above, they are greeted with the view of men and women laying there, smoking and doing drugs. It’s been a complaint of ours for a while that it should be removed, so we’re glad Shelar has taken this up,” said the imam, Tawhid Akhtar Siddiqui.

Others, however, were disappointed the skywalk was going away for good. Raja Rahebar Khan, a former municipal corporator from Bandra West, discussed the issues faced by pedestrians due to the dismantling of the skywalk. “The major portion of the skywalk was dismantled 7-8 months ago as it was in the way of Metro line construction. I also proposed that the escalators be built at the major parts of this skywalk to make it easy for all kinds of pedestrians to walk by. There are mandirs, municipal schools and the mosque, for which people used the skywalk as the road below is narrow. And now, of course, it is going to create chaos among the pedestrians without the skywalk.”

Sanjay Bhondiram Magare, a resident of Shastri Nagar, said, “I used to commute through that skywalk regularly. Children used to use it to go to their schools as well. Now, the monsoon is approaching and there is going to be chaos on this narrow road below the skywalk because both pedestrians and vehicles are going to use the road. One has to wait at least 15 minutes at the signal to cross. If the skywalk existed, people could have peacefully walked on it instead of being cautious of the vehicles on the road.”