Another 15 bridges in the western and eastern suburbs of Mumbai were declared as dangerous after a re-audit was done. Earlier an audit had said that 14 bridges are in a dilapidated condition.
According to DNA, in the meanwhile, the demolition and reconstruction of these bridges are going on at a slow pace, so until it is completed the locals will have no access to these 29 bridges. The re-audit of 81 bridges of South Mumbai is yet to be carried out. After the collapse of the Himalaya Bridge at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT) on March 14, the BMC chief had ordered a re-audit of the bridges as the auditor concerned had only suggested minor repairs.
A civic official told the leading daily, “According to a recently conducted survey, another 15 bridges get added in the dilapidated list. All these bridges are over nullahs and are not major ones.” In the meanwhile, the BMC’s bridge department couldn’t start demolishing the other bridges due to a shortage in manpower. A senior officer from the civic body told DNA, “The demolition of 21 other bridges cannot be completed before the monsoon season. So, we have put up barricades along these bridges to shut access. The repair work and reconstruction will start after the rainy season.”
