New Elphinstone flyover hits speed bump

The Indian Railways has raised a red flag, warning it won’t allow the project to proceed until its demand for “way leave charges” is approved

MUMBAI: The clock has begun ticking on rebuilding the Elphinstone road-overbridge (ROB), one of Mumbai’s most complex infrastructure projects. But before the project actually gets underway, the Indian Railways has raised a red flag, warning it won’t allow the project to proceed until its demand for “way leave charges” is approved.

Mumbai, India. Sep 15, 2025 - Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) started demolishing the Elphinstone Bridge after it was closed for traffic. MMRDA will construct a new Elphinstone Bridge along with the Seree-Worli Connector. Mumbai, India. Sep 15, 2025. (Photo by Raju Shinde/HT Photo) (Raju Shinde)

The bridge, a vital east-west connector between Prabhadevi and Parel, straddles sections of the Western and Central railways, both suburban railways in Mumbai. This means Maha Rail (Maharashtra Rail Infrastructure Development Corporation), which is executing the project, will need to use railway land to construct the new state-of-the-art, double-deck flyover. For this, the railways are due “way leave charges” – effectively rent – for the project’s estimated two-year duration.

While the Central Railway (CR) is asking for ₹10 crore, the Western Railway (WR) has asked Maha Rail to cough up ₹59.14 crore, a sum yet to be approved by the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA), which has contracted the project to Maha Rail, a joint venture between the state government and the Indian Railways.

Preliminary work on demolishing the Elphinstone ROB, also called Carrol bridge, began on September 10. The asphalt has been ripped up on the approach roads at both ends of the bridge, and paver blocks on the footpaths too have been torn up. However, the railways have not allowed the section of the bridge above the railway tracks to be demolished until their demand is met. The ₹167-crore project already finds itself wrapped in red tape, slowing its progress.

Senior railway officials said that when permission for the project was sought from the railways in mid-2022, the CR responded to Maha Rail, asking for ₹10 crore as way leave charges.

It wasn’t quite as simple for the WR. Officials from the railway say they received Maha Rail’s letter on the project a few days after the CR had received theirs. In the interim, they say, the Railway Board had amended certain rules, which considerably raised the way leave charges due to them.

While WR has asked for ₹59.14 crore, Maha Rail released ₹9 crore, but the railway returned the money, insisting that the full sum be deposited before it clears the way for the project to proceed.

“We are demanding ₹36.11 crore as way leave charges and ₹23.03 crore as other departmental fees. In contrast, the Central Railway had asked for ₹10 crore only, and they gave approval after ₹5 crore was deposited,” said a railway official.

Maha Rail questions why different railway zones in the same city are charging different fees. “The total project cost is ₹167 crore and the railways are asking for more than ₹60 crore for these approvals. We have met with MMRDA on the issue as they will foot the bill,” said a Maha Rail official. MMRDA did not respond to requests for a comment.

The Western Railway is also miffed with Maha Rail for its delay in responding to queries relating to technical details about the new ROB. The section of the bridge that falls under railway jurisdiction is 132 metres. In March, the WR had suggested that the implementation agency make certain technical changes but this took six months to resolve.

Meanwhile, construction of the new bridge has impacted two buildings flanking the proposed structure – Laxmi Nivas and Haji Noorani Chawl. Both buildings will be demolished and the 83 families living in them relocated to new homes. Under a MHADA-MMRDA agreement, these families will receive permanent housing.

MHADA has identified 119 apartments in areas like Dadar, Matunga, Parel, Lalbaug, Sewri and Prabhadevi for these project-affected residents. These flats will be handed over to MMRDA in the next 15 days, after which the families will receive their keys.

The flats were acquired from private builders and are now being sold to MMRDA at 110% of the Ready Reckoner rate. The total deal is worth ₹129 crore.