Mumbai: Gokhale Bridge to reopen partially before monsoon, says BMC

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has announced that the Gokhale Bridge, which is being rebuilt, will be partially reopened before the heavy monsoon season, reports from Hindustan Times stated.

The civic body previously stated that two lanes of the Gokhale Bridge will be open by the end of May. The partial opening was later pushed back to before the monsoon.

The BMC has also issued a tender for ₹5.5 crore to build six submersible pumps to the Mogra Nullah system in order to reduce flooding at the Andheri subway.

The civic body officials stated that they have a contingency plan in place to ensure that the Andheri subway remains flood-free during the monsoon season if the reopening of Gokhale Bridge is delayed.

West side of Mumbai's Gokhale bridge dismantled

On Friday, the Western Railway (WR) said that it has completed the dismantling activity of the west side of Gokhale bridge and the portion was handed over to BMC on March 16.

"The east side will be handed over on 31st March 2023 after dismantling of the abutment and completion of ancillary work in connection with the dismantling. The construction of new ROB including a railway portion will be done by BMC," a Western Railway spokesperson said.

The BMC intends to open two lanes of the restored bridge by the end of May 2023, and the other two by the end of September 2023. The demolition contract has been finalised by WR for about ₹11.5 crore.