Mumbai: BMC asks WR to speed up demolition of Andheri bridge

Mumbai: After the closure of the Gokhale bridge on Monday, the BMC has written to the Western Railways to demolish their portion of the bridge on priority. The bridge is a key connector between Andheri east-west, so the civic body wants to complete two lanes of the reconstructed bridge over the railway portion by May 31, 2023. 

The BMC in its letter has also requested the railway to carry out the demolition work within the stipulated time and warned that they won’t take responsiblility for any untoward incident or casualty.

Demolish the railway portion of the bridge as early as possible: BMC

In its letter to the Chief Bridge Engineer of Western Railways, the BMC has said "due to the running lines on the railway portion the demolition of the bridge is a tough job for civic contractors. Hence the chief bridge engineer is requested to demolish the railway portion through the Western Railway as early as possible. So that the work over the railway portion can be carried out without any further delay." The BMC in its letter also reminded that presently, the railway portion at Hancock and Carnac bridge is being demolished by the railway authority.

The civic authority will be floating a short tender this week to speed up the reconstruction work. "We are planning to issue the work order in the first week of December. But the actual construction work can start only after the Railways demolish their portion of the bridge.  We will try to open two lanes of the bridge over the railway portion by May 31, 2023," said the civic official of the Bridge Department.

The bridge was constructed in 1975.

Considering the closure created major traffic chaos on its very first day, the BMC has decided to provide 200 wardens to manage traffic police in the area.