The cost of repairing six flyover bridges in South Mumbai has increased by 24 per cent owing to structural audits, delays over land acquisition and other issues. The cost of repairs of Princess Street Flyover, Hindu Vidya Bhavan Pedestrian Bridge, Kemps Corner Flyover, Kennedy Bridge, Bellasis Flyover and Reay Road Railway Flyover has gone up from Rs 23 crore to Rs 28 crore, and the proposal of the same has been tabled before the civic standing committee.
The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) started repairing most of the bridges across the city after the structural audit report in 2018. However, after the collapse of the Himalayan Bridge near Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSTM), all the bridges and pedestrian bridges in the city area were inspected and audited once again.
Due to these fresh structural audits, the process of clearing encroachments etc. has led to delays and cost escalation, officials have stated.
"This work was awarded before the tragic incident of CSTM FOB in March 2019. After that, these FOBs were re-checked through IIT - Mumbai and a proposal for an additional cost (variation proposal) was submitted as per recommendation from IIT Mumbai. The proposal of cost variation has been sent to the standing committee," said P Velrasu Additional Municipal Commissioner (Project).
The original contract for the repair of these six bridges was Rs. 23.17 crores. The amount has now increased by Rs 5.72 crores 28 crores. Taking into account taxes and other costs, the increase has gone up to Rs 34 crore.
In September 2021, the Mumbai civic body tabled a proposal about increased costs of Mahalaxmi and Parel bridges wherein repair costs were increased by 30 per cent from Rs 26 crore to Rs 34 crore.
The civic body started repairing bridges at Mahalaxmi, Currey Road, Sion railway stations and Tilak bridge at Dadar, Dadar flower market bridge, Mahim railway crossing the bridge and Dadar-Dharavi bridge.
The repair cost was estimated at Rs 26 crore in November 2019 and the work was expected to complete within two years. However, due to the additional work required for the same, the administration proposed to increase the deadline by another six months and cost by a total of Rs 7.85 crore.
