Final countdown: Gokhale Bridge to open by May 15

In a city increasingly defined by traffic gridlock, bridges are rising – sleek, soaring and reshaping the way Mumbai moves. The BMC has more than 20 bridges in the pipeline. In this series, HT examines these bridges, their costs, their impact and how they will transform commuting in Maximum City

MUMBAI: When Andheri East resident Minoo Sukhia stepped onto the second and final arm of the soon-to-be-opened, reconstructed Gokhale Bridge, he felt as though he had the world at his feet. While that seem like an overstatement, residents of Juhu, Lokhandwala and Andheri will tell you otherwise.

Mumbai, India - March 20, 2025: A view of the Gokhale Bridge at Andheri in Mumbai, India, on Thursday, March 20, 2025. (Photo by Satish Bate/ Hindustan Times) (Hindustan Times)

Gokhale Bridge, a vital east-west connector in this linear city, is gearing up for its Phase 2 opening by May 15. And this time, everything seems to be on track – no embarrassing misalignments, just a smooth opening, assured an official with the bridges department of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), which is rebuilding the bridge. The first arm of the bridge, going from east to west, was opened to traffic just over a year ago.

Citizens’ groups such as the Andheri Lokhandwala Oshiwara Citizens Association (LOCA) and Mumbai North Central Division Forum (MNCDF), with support from MLA Ameet Satam, have been closely following the developments and are eagerly waiting for the bridge to fully open.

Partial collapse in 2018

A railway report blamed corroded steel, additional cables and paver blocks that had been laid on this vulnerable portion. Despite its poor structural condition, the BMC and Western Railway (WR) did not shut the bridge, a move later questioned by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG).

Tendering began in 2019, the work order being awarded to M/s SMS Infrastructure Ltd at a cost of ₹103.38 crore. Demolition began only in 2020 and the BMC began reconstructing one arm of the approach roads.

It took another tragic incident, the collapse of the Morbi bridge in Gujarat, which claimed over 100 lives in October 2022, to bring Mumbai’s Gokhale Bridge back into focus. An IIT-Bombay structural audit underscored its dilapidated status, leading to its shutting in November 2022, and complete demolition a month later. But the BMC ran into major roadblocks, including strikes at the steel plant, leading to steel shortage, and flooding at the fabrication factory in Haryana.

Meanwhile, residents of the surrounding areas continued to suffer. Sukhia, a resident of Andheri East, recalls a five-minute journey to the west taking 90 minutes in peak traffic, particularly during the rains. The closest alternative, said Shah, is the Andheri subway, which has major flooding issues in the monsoon; the Captain Vinayak Gore flyover in Irla, which is narrow and all the way in Vile Parle; and the Thackeray flyover in Jogeshwari, or Milan subway in Santa Cruz.

Major Misalignment

After many deadline extensions, the BMC finally opened the first arm of the new bridge – from west to east – in February 2024. But they had made a colossal miscalculation, one that would make them the laughing stock of citizens – a 2.8-metre misalignment between the new arm of the bridge and its Juhu connector, the Barfiwala flyover, which was to link up with the reconstructed bridge. The height of the two structures was misaligned.

The BMC’s explanation was – ‘missing’ drawings of the Barfiwala flyover and the railway’s increased height requirement for the reconstructed bridge. The BMC also claimed it had never planned to link the two structures in Phase 1. Nevertheless, to take corrective action, the civic body roped in VJTI and IIT-Bombay and it was decided that the Barfiwala flyover’s spans would be lifted with jacks to bring them level with the new Gokhale bridge. It cost the BMC an additional ₹7 crore.

Thankfully, the bridge’s second arm did not have any glitches, although its opening is six months late. “Of the nine spans on the approach road, concretisation of four spans remains,” said an official from the BMC’s bridges department. “Curing will take another 20 days, and then we will move on to ancillary works. The bridge will open by May 15.”

However, citizens are dismayed at how narrow the bridge’s two footpaths are. “We were constrained by a water line beside the bridge, but we plan to shift it, after which we will construct a FOB next to the bridge,” said the official.

Another concern is the ongoing work on the Juhu Circle flyover. The structure begins an intersection just after the landing of the Barfiwala flyover exit near Juhu Galli, making residents wonder if it will impede its use. However, officials from the BMC’s bridges department say there is sufficient space, and more will be created when material stored at the site will be removed.