Mumbai: BMC to take up major repairs, reconstruction of 14 bridges in western suburbs

According to BMC officials, these 14 bridges were found to be vulnerable in an audit by Veermata Jijabai Technological Institute that was undertaken following the collapse of the Himalaya Bridge

Fourteen vehicular and pedestrian bridges in the western suburbs will be taken up for major repairs and reconstruction, owing to the structural defects identified during a recent audit. These bridges are located in Malad, Goregaon and Andheri, and the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has floated bids worth ₹16.88 crore for the works.

Mumbai, India - June 22, 2019: BMC workers dismantling skywalk at Western express highway, Bandra in Mumbai, India, on Saturday, June 22, 2019. (Photo by Kunal Patil/Hindustan Times) (Kunal Patil/HT Photo)

According to BMC officials, these 14 bridges in western suburbs were found to be vulnerable in an audit by Veermata Jijabai Technological Institute (VJTI) that was undertaken following the collapse of the Himalaya Bridge near Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT) in south Mumbai in March 2019.

A BMC official from the bridges department said, “Overall, there are 50 such small bridges that are being taken up for repairs and reconstruction in phases. We will also go ahead with similar works for the Bandra skywalk in the coming days.”

While six of the bridges will undergo major repairs, eight will be demolished and rebuild. Of the 14, five are vehicular bridges – Malwani bridge (Malad), Hindustan Nallah Bridge (Charkop Road in Kandivli), the bridge connecting Lokhandwala and Laxmi Nagar (Andheri West) and the one crossing Mithi River on Andheri-Kurla Road.

The document tendered by BMC stated, “Vehicular traffic in the construction area shall be regulated with the help of the traffic police authority. However, pedestrian movement in the area should not be affected during the entire construction period. Hence, before starting the work, barricading, signals, warning signals etc shall be provided, in order to not affect the pedestrian movement and utilities.”

Further, the demolition work for a part of the Bandra skywalk is expected to start after Diwali, for which the bids were floated in August. BMC has decided to demolish and rebuild a part of the city’s first skywalk in Bandra (East) after a third-party auditor pointed out structural defects on the structure. Owing to this, traffic on the station road leading to Bandra-Kurla Complex (BKC) is expected to be affected. According to BMC officials, the stretch of the bridge between Bandra (East) station and Western Express Highway will be demolished and rebuilt at the cost of around ₹16.20 crore. In 2019 during monsoon, a portion of the skywalk had collapsed, injuring a woman.

Apart from the Bandra skywalk, 23 remaining skywalks in the city are also due to undergo major repairs or demolition and reconstruction, as suggested by the VJTI audit.