Mumbai: It's been several months since the Navi Mumbai Police had requested the Public Works Department (PWD) to install railings along the old and new Vashi-bridges, however it is yet to be installed. There have been several suicide cases reported from these bridges since 2015, hence the police has been requesting for such suicide barriers for years. According to police sources, the Vashi Police have been writing to the PWD to increase the height of the fencing around the bridge or put up barbed wires to deter people from attempting suicide at the spot. After the police's proposal, the PWD started a ‘suicide-barrier’ project in January this year, which had an estimated cost of ₹1.5 crore for the old bridge and ₹4.5 crore for the new bridge.
Police said, every year, there are more than 20 incidents of suicide or suicide attempts from the bridges, which connect Mumbai and Navi Mumbai. To cut down on such incidents, the Navi Mumbai Police came up with the idea of installing suicide barriers at the bridges to prevent suicides. A senior police officer said that this idea was inspired by an international design used on several main bridges abroad. Police met the PWD officials in January to zero down on the design and they decided that the barriers should be 9-feet tall and have a curvature at the top to prevent anyone from climbing them.
A senior police inspector from Vashi police station said, “We have given a reminder to the PWD officials time and again, but they said that they have other priorities to work on instead of the bridges like upgrading the street lights. This has delayed the installation of barriers. On the old bridge, we will be able to install suicide barriers only on one side, as it has a gas pipeline on the other side.” A PWD official told The Free Press Journal on request of confidentiality that they have already floated tenders for the installation of barriers and the work is expected to start in the first week of July.
Earlier the police had resorted to other methods to prevent suicides from the old and new Vashi bridge like putting up banners and police patrolling using private security guards appointed by the PWD. Moreover, police had also kept a boat on standby under the bridge to be the first in the line of action, said a police officer. On Thursday, a body was spotted in the creek, which turned out to be that of Salman Rashid Qureshi (20), who had been missing since Wednesday. Qureshi's family located his two-wheeler along with his mobile phone and keys near the old Vashi bridge and registered a missing person’s complaint with Vashi police on Wednesday.
Last year, the co-founder of KWAN talent management agency, Anirban Das Blah had attempted suicide at Vashi bridge. However, he was rescued by the Vashi Traffic Police in the nick of time after he was found attempting to jump off the old Vashi bridge. In 2015, 21 people jumped off the old Vashi Bridge, while 15 were rescued. In 2016, too, 15 people jumped off the bridge, while at least eight leapt off it and died in 2017, said a police official from Vashi police station.
