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Brace for traffic snarls in Mumbai, Amar Mahal flyover repairs to take four months
Commuters on the Eastern Express Highway will face difficulties for some more time as the state government officials have said that Amar Mahal flyover will remain closed for four months for structural changes.
Commuters on the Eastern Express Highway will face difficulties for some more time as the state government officials have said that Amar Mahal flyover will remain closed for four months for structural changes.
Officials said that two of its joints were found to be damaged last week. Repairs will be carried out on 60 metres of the flyover, which will take four months.
The flyover, built in 1995, has been shut to the traffic since April 8, which has led huge jams.
Officials from the state public works department (PWD) said that overloading had damaged the flyover. Authorities found no deficiency in the design and construction of the flyover, so no action will be taken against the builder.
“We have decided to replace the affected portion. This will take four months as a procedure needs to be followed —floating tenders and issuing work orders to the selected firm,” said Chandrakant Patil, state public works minister.
He added, “The construction company guaranteed it would last five years, which passed a long time ago. So the government will not take any action against it.”
The PWD appointed an eight-member technical committee to look into the damage.
The preliminary report suggested structural changes and replacing a 60-metre span of the flyover.The committee must submit a final report to the PWD by the end of this month.
The life span of the flyover is 50 years.
When asked, PWD principal secretary Ashish Kumar Singh said, “The flyover is in good shape. Three or four stress points have been identified in the simulation report and we are only replacing those.”
“We don’t want to put any lives at risk and so we took up immediately,” Patil said.
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