BMC razes 28 structures obstructing Gokhale bridge construction
The BMC had hit a roadblock because 13 of the 32 structures were residential. The officials had said that the residents could not be evicted during monsoons as per court orders. Four of the 13 houses were eligible and were rehabilitated under Project Affected People (PAP) Act.
Mumbai: The civic body on Wednesday demolished 28 structures, coming in the way of a crane brought in for the construction of Gokhale Bridge, a key Andheri east-west connector.

A total of 32 structures were in the way of the construction of the bridge, of which four were moved by their respective owners on Tuesday, said officials of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) K east ward.
The BMC had hit a roadblock because 13 of the 32 structures were residential. The officials had said that the residents could not be evicted during monsoons as per court orders. Four of the 13 houses were eligible and were rehabilitated under Project Affected People (PAP) Act.
A senior official of the K east ward said, “Four structures were shifted under PAP Act and the remaining people, in nine structures, have been provided temporary shelter till monsoons. We have now made the space available to the contractor for the crane movement.”
In an exclusive report on August 29, HT had written about BMC’s bridges department requesting the K east ward to clear the structures to enable the maneuverability of the crane.
The crane has been brought in by the contractor to assemble the girder which will then be pushed on to the railway portion.
On September 4, the deadline for opening the bridge was pushed to December from its Diwali target. The announcement for the same was made while local MLA Ameet Satam visited the bridge along with the BMC officials.
Satam had indicated that he anticipates the bridge may be opened partially in the first week of December, which he now says will hopefully open in the next 85 days, which is November 30.
In a statement made to the public on September 4 after the visit, Satam had shared a rough timeline.
He had said, “It will take 30 days for assembly of girders and 15 more days for launching, pushing and lowering them. These are specialised tasks and have to be executed carefully and under the strict supervision of railways. Another 40 days are needed for concretisation and opening.”

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