The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has finally allowed the Central Railway (CR) to erect a height gauge near Sion Hospital, to prevent tall containers and heavy vehicles from passing under the King’s Circle bridge. The work on the gauge will start later this week and will be completed by November.
Due to alleged poor monitoring by the Mumbai traffic police and repeated resurfacing of roads by the BMC, the King’s Circle railway overbridge has become a headache for the railway authorities. Since January 2019, 18 cases of damage to the bridge’s height barriers by tall containers have been reported, posing a serious threat to the safety of trains as well as motorists. Fourteen cases were reported in the third lane, which has a clearance of only 4.3 metres; it’s way lower than the five-metre standard set by the Indian Road Congress.
One of the oldest rail overbridges in the city, the King’s Circle bridge is part of the CR’s Harbour Line. Railway officials have said that its foundation is still very strong but frequent accidents can have dangerous consequences.
