Gokhale bridge deadline pushed from Diwali to Dec

An official from the BMC’s K east ward said, “The bridges department had initially requested for 9mts clearance, and we had given them 12mts clearance. Then on August 25, they requested that they want 15mts now. Hence the structures will have to be fully razed

Mumbai: The deadline for opening Andheri’s vital Gokhale bridge is pushed to December now from its Diwali target. On Monday, local MLA Ameet Satam indicated that he anticipates the bridge may open partially in the first week of December.

Mumbai, India - Aug 28, 2023 : The BMC wants to remove 13 structures from Gokhale bridge site in Andheri east. Construction of Gokhale Bridge in Andheri east withÊCranesÊatÊwork, in Mumbai, India, Monday, Aug 28, 2023. (Photo by Vijay Bate/HT Photo)

In a statement made to the public after the visit, Satam shared a rough timeline. He said, “It will take thirty days for assembly of girders, 15 days for launching them and pushing and lowering down the girders. These are specialised tasks and have to be executed carefully and executed under the strict supervision of railways and 40 days for concretisation and opening.”

HT in an exclusive report on August 29 had reported that Gokhale bridge work had hit a log jam as BMC needed more space to enable crane movement. “The assembly will begin after the demolition of the structures,” said Satam, adding that the file for demolition was approved by the BMC Commissioner Iqbal Chahal on Monday. “Also, railways have to provide blocks when required on priority which had been communicated to them,” Satam added.

An official from the BMC’s K east ward said, “The bridges department had initially requested for 9mts clearance, and we had given them 12mts clearance. Then on August 25, they requested that they want 15mts now. Hence the structures will have to be fully razed. We are trying to clear this in record time with all due legal process.”

The official added that the file sent to BMC commissioner for demolition of the structures was approved on Monday and BMC is likely to demolish the structures on Wednesday under police protection.

Zoru Bhathena who was at the site along with other citizens said the bridge is likely to open by December end subject to no more surprises by BMC on the delay. “Two unknown periods are estimated. Seven days to get crane movement space (demolition of structures) and seven days to get Railway permissions” he said adding that no holidays for Ganpati, Diwali, Sundays, heavy rains etc. have been accounted for in this estimate.

A senior BMC official said, “We are expediting the work and are aiming to finish this before the December deadline.” The bridge, a part of which collapsed in 2018, killing two, is a key connector between Andheri east and west, and is one of the busiest routes in that suburb. Following the collapse, the bridge was kept partially open while the BMC worked on rebuilding it in phases. The collapse also triggered the BMC to announce routine audits of all the bridges in Mumbai. It was during this audit in September 2022 that announced the bridge as unsafe forcing it to be completely shut from November 7, 2022.

The CAG report on Gokhale bridge had said demolition and reconstruction of the bridge was delayed by almost four years. “Audit observed that even after the serious incident of collapse of a part of the GKG Bridge in July 2018 and recommendations of the structural auditor, the BMC did not plan for the reconstruction of the bridge in a timely manner. “Instead, Western Railways with the concurrence of the BMC carried out heavy repair works to steel girder pathway and PSC girder span on the bridge along with repair of the pipeline bridge from October 2018 to February 2020 on deposit basis with funds from BMC at a cost of ₹6.14 crore.

The BMC should have planned for the reconstruction of the bridge immediately following the recommendations of the structural auditor,” added the report.