The BMC has asked citizens to be careful while crossing 13 rail-over-bridges (RoBs) during Ganesh immersion processions and has also made Ganesh mandals aware of these locations. The civic body had declared these RoBs dangerous and has asked devotees and organisers to follow the rules and regulations put in place by the traffic police before taking processions on these flyovers.
Bridges like the Cury Road RoB, Chinchpokli bridge which is on Sane Guruji Road and the Mandalik bridge near Byculla can't carry more than 16 tonnes of weight at a time. Processions of Ganesh mandals from Chembur, Lalbaug, and Parel pass over the Chinchpokli bridge to reach Girgaon chowpatty. Moreover, the immersion procession of the famous Lalbaugcha Raja passes over the same bridge. Other processions taking this route include those of the Ganesh Gully Ganpati, Chinchpoklicha Chintamani, Tejukaya Ganpati, Cotton Greencha Raja and the Nare Park Ganesh mandal that pass one after the other.
Naresh Dahibavkar, chairman of Ganesh Mandal Samanvay Samiti, said, “Last Friday we held a meeting on several issues faced during the Ganesh festival. I had brought this issue before the police commissioner and the BMC commissioner. They told me meetings are being held with Ganesh mandals at the local level and instructions are being issued to not dance or play music on the dangerous bridges.” Dahibavkar added that devotees are being told to take their idols carefully across the bridges and then start celebrating again once they are off the bridge. The Mumbai Traffic Police has been holding meetings with Ganesh mandals and is giving them suggestions in this regard.
DCP Raj Tilak Roushan, traffic division, said, “We have appointed a Police Naik level officer at every mandal, who will be present during the immersion procession. The nodal officer will collaborate with the mandal's office bearers and accordingly, the procession will go ahead.”
There are a number of dangerous bridges across the city. In July 2018, the Gokhale Bridge in Andheri collapsed and two people were killed. In March 2019, The Himalay Bridge near CSMT railway station collapsed and seven people lost their lives. Thereafter, the BMC started conducting an audit of all the bridges. The civic body has also repaired and demolished some of the dangerous bridges.
Dangerous bridges
Ghatkopar RoB
Cury Road RoB
Sane Guruji Marg RoB (Chinchpokli)
Byculla RoB
Marine Lines RoB
Sandhurst Road RoB,
French RoB (between Grant Road and Charni Road stations)
Kenedy RoB (Grant Road),
Falkland RoB (between Grant Road and Mumbai Central stations)
Belasis RoB (Mumbai Central)
Mahalaxmi RoB
Carol RoB (Prabhadevi)
Tilak RoB (Dadar)
