Kora Kendra bridge extension inches forward

Progress on the extension is 37% complete, at Rajendra Nagar, 310 homes need to be cleared, of which 92 have been demolished

MUMBAI: More than three years after the Kora Kendra bridge in Borivali was opened to traffic, work on its 880-metre extension, which would take traffic all the way up to the Western Express Highway (WEH), is dragging on. Once complete, its deadline more than a year away, it will connect Link Road in Borivali West to the WEH in the east, exactly where the proposed Borivali-Thane twin tunnels will begin.

Mumbai, India - June 27, 2025: A view of the under construction extension of the flyover Kora Kendra to the Western Express Highway (WEH) at Borivali in Mumbai, India, on Friday, June 27, 2025. (Photo by Satish Bate/ Hindustan Times) (Hindustan Times)

Construction on the Kora Kendra flyover began in 2018, a 970-metre stretch connecting the Kora Kendra junction on SV Road and Link Road in Borivali. The Covid-19 pandemic slowed its completion, after which, in 2021, the civic administration decided to extend the bridge to free up Borivali’s arterial roads.

After the bridge’s landing on SV Road, the FM Cariappa flyover takes commuters to Borivali east. The extension will pick up from here, going straight to the WEH. The extension was awarded to the same contractor as the flyover, adding ₹299 crore to the project cost.

“Work on the extension has been underway for so long, it’s burned into my memory,” said frequent user of the Kora Kendra flyover, Hamza Lakdawala. “I can hardly remember a time when work wasn’t going on!” Others on social media platform X too are asking the same question.

The official said once the encroachments are removed, work will speed up, and the target of November 2026 would be met.

But Lakdawala is not impressed. “The Kora Kendra bridge has made a difference, although only relatively. It is a narrow bridge, so vehicles aren’t exactly charging through. The space beneath the bridge is very congested, thanks to parking space created and the pillars of the bridge. I suspect this extension will be the same, easing our commute slightly, but not adequately.”

Sanjay Upadhyay, MLA from Borivali, said he was monitoring work on the bridge. “We are making sure encroachers obstructing the extension will get permanent rehabilitation and that the intersection, where the bridge ends and the twin tunnels are set to begin, is built seamlessly,” he said.

A senior civic official said the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay and MMRDA are studying the junction leading up to the proposed twin tunnels, to devise a plan for seamless traffic flow.