Mumbai: Gokhale bridge will open by September 2023

Mumbai: After a public outcry over the closure of Gokhale Bridge in Andheri, the BMC has now announced that the bridge will be reopened for traffic movement by September 2023. Meanwhile, the discussion between the civic authority and the railways is ongoing, and the decision on who will demolish the portion of the bridge on railway lines will be finalised by the end of this week, said the civic official. The Andheri Bridge, which connects east and west in Andheri, was closed for vehicular traffic on November 7.

The civic body had earlier estimated the demolition and reconstruction work would be completed in 18 months. Closure of the bridge has created major chaosBut the closure of the bridge has created major chaos on SV Road, Link Road, and Irla Junction over the last two days. So the additional municipal commissioner, P.

Velarasu, along with civic officials, visited the bridge area and took a review of the work on Wednesday. “We want to open two lanes of the reconstructed bridge by May 2023 for traffic movement. ” while the remaining two lanes will be opened by September 2023.

But the BMC has never done demolition of bridges on railway lines in the past, so we will have a meeting with the railway authority and decide about it soon,” said P. Velarasu. The BMC had written to the western railwaysThe BMC had written to the western railways on Monday, requesting to demolish their portion of the bridge as early as possible to avoid any untoward incident.

But the railways wrote back to them on the next day, asking the BMC to demolish and reconstruct the entire bridge. “It has already been decided that demolition work on Gokhale Bridge will be carried out by BMC more than a year ago; there is no confusion about this,” said an officer of the western railway, adding that we are ready to provide all types of possible assistance, including allowing the traffic blocks. When asked about the approval of the final design of the bridge, the officials said, “We are waiting for the final design; once we get it, we will respond as soon as possible.

“BMC has not carried out the demolition of any railway bridgesOn the other hand, the civic officials said that “The railway authorities have technical expertise on this issue, so their portion of the bridge needs to be demolished by the western railways itself. ” BMC has not carried out the demolition of any railway bridges; even the Hancock and Carnac bridges were pulled down by the railways only. “The discussion is ongoing between the two agencies, and by the end of this week, the demolition work is likely to begin.

“Meanwhile, the BMC has contacted the IIT in Mumbai to finalise the design of the Gokhale bridge. Final approval on the plan is expected to come in a weekAccordingly, the final approval on the plan for the bridge is expected to come by the end of this week. After that, the BMC will float tenders for the reconstruction of the bridge.

The civic body has also written to the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) and requested them to narrow down the barricades that have been set up for metro works. So the available road space could be increased for traffic movement. The K/West ward office is also carrying out resurfacing works on the alternate routes that are witnessing huge traffic movements.

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