Relief to commuters: BMC opens bridge over Walbhat river shut since July

After keeping it shut for four months since July, Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) on Wednesday restarted the Ram Mandir bridge over Walbhat river, connecting SV Road to Ram Mandir, for light motor vehicles

After keeping it shut for four months since July, Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) on Wednesday restarted the Ram Mandir bridge over Walbhat river, connecting SV Road to Ram Mandir, for light motor vehicles. Only half (then south-bound) portion of this bridge has been restarted, for two-way traffic, as the other half (then north-bound) had been demolished in March 2020, for reconstruction. Reconstruction is presently in progress. It was expected to be completed by November 2021; however, it has been delayed until February 2022.

Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) on Wednesday restarted the Ram Mandir bridge over Walbhat river, connecting SV Road to Ram Mandir, for light motor vehicles (Satyabrata Tripathy/HT Photo)

The part of the bridge which was not being demolished was closed for vehicular traffic after the Walbhat river submerged the bridge this monsoon. The riding surface was eroded and the bottom slab had been broken due to the force of the water. The BMC had appointed a consultant to assess the condition and closed it for traffic.

BMC had then planned to not reopen this undemolished (south-bound) half for traffic, finish constructing the north-bound half of the bridge by November, and then restart traffic on this portion. As per the original plan, the south-bound half of the bridge would be taken up for reconstruction in the second phase.

A senior civic body official of the bridges department said, “Our reconstruction work on the north-bound portion was delayed by approximately three months due to the pandemic. Since the entire bridge was closed in July, vehicular traffic on the road below, towards Ram Mandir and SV Road, had become unmanageable. Hence, we decided to resurface the flood-damaged south-bound portion and temporarily reopen it for light motor vehicles. We will demolish this part of the bridge and reconstruct it in February, and start the north-bound part for traffic once its reconstruction is complete.”

For the very first time, the bridges department has decided to use stainless steel girders for the construction of this bridge. So far, BMC used mild steel girders for bridge construction.

While resurfacing the flood-damaged part to restart traffic flow for a mere four months has caused BMC’s bridges department considerable expenditure, it has eased traffic on the road below.

Dhaval Shah from Lokhandwala Oshiwara Citizens Association said, “Traffic flow has been much better on Wednesday. But the bridges department took an unnecessarily long time from July to November to repair only 100 meters, causing inconvenience to lakhs of commuters.”