Gokhale bridge reopening pushed to mid-November

Confirming the development, an official from the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s (BMC) Bridges department, said that the bridge is now likely to be reopened in November this year. The announcement was made after Ameet Satam, MLA, Andheri West, conducted a joint visit with BMC officials on Wednesday.

Mumbai: The reopening of Gokhale Bridge in Andheri, which was expected to be done in May, has now been delayed again with the civic body announcing that the deadline has been pushed to mid-November this year.

Mumbai, India - March 13, 2023: Gokhale Bridge, a major connector between Andheri East and West, completely dismantled in the morning, at Andheri, in Mumbai, India, on Monday, March 13, 2023. (Photo by Vijay Bate/HT Photo) (HT PHOTO)

Confirming the development, an official from the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s (BMC) Bridges department, said that the bridge is now likely to be reopened in November this year. The announcement was made after Ameet Satam, MLA, Andheri West, conducted a joint visit with BMC officials on Wednesday.

A press note sent by Satam, said, “As per the BMC, the design of the bridge in the railway portion was approved by Railways on February 2 and the order for steel girders in the railway portion were placed on February 8. However, the design of the girder is such that only two companies in India could fulfill it. And the one company with whom the order was placed went on a strike leading to delays. Subsequently, the order was placed with the other company, who will fulfill it by July 2023,” he said.

Citizens have reacted strongly and said the delay will be a nightmare during monsoons for east-west connectivity in the area.

Dinesh Mehta, a resident of Andheri East, said, “It is very disappointing to hear this. Not only a golden opportunity has been wasted but further distrust has been sown in the minds of a common man about promises by the administration. Why was there no corrective action or alternative arrangements thought of? Now, people will find it difficult to believe whether the bridge will be reopened even by November.”

Dhaval Shah, founder of Lokhandwala Oshiwara citizen’s association said, “We hope that the dewatering pump at Andheri subway is in place or will be in place before the monsoons so that the nearest alternate route is not hampered.”

The bridge, which was partially shut in 2018, was fully shut in September 2022 after it was declared unsafe during a routine audit.

The BMC had also received flak after the CAG report had revealed a delay in construction of the bridge by BMC.

“It was also noticed that there was a lack of co-ordination between Western Railway (WR) and BMC as it took more than 24 months to arrive at a decision on the minimum height of soffit of the proposed girder from the highest Rail Track Level (RTL),” said the report.

“Consequently, the contractor had not executed the works as per the targetted milestones. Any action taken by BMC to prioritise the work was not on record,” added the report.