Mumbai: Final nod for Hancock bridge as CR agrees to BMC's demands

BMC officials had said that they want to shift heavy girders across the railway tracks during the day as it is a very sensitive job and requires acute perfection

Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) officials working on the Hancock bridge at Sandhurst Road say they are now awaiting the final push, with permissions for work over the rail lines from the Central Railway. Once they get these officially, the process of road laying on the bridge will begin at one go. A CR spokesperson has said they are ready with the same.

BMC officials said that they want to shift heavy girders across the railway tracks during daytime as it is a very sensitive job and requires acute perfection, but the railways had said there have been issues as over 372 suburban and special passenger and freight trains have been running and a day-block would involve curtailing them. However, the railways have now agreed to the demand.

"The Railways have been causing delays in launching girders across railway tracks despite the lapse and unreasonable delay of five years," alleged social activist Kamlakar Shenoy who has been fighting the battle with the authorities for the bridge since Day 1.

Allegations against CR
"In this lockdown period the public are not allowed to use trains, hence there is minimum cause of disruption. The railways are offering night-time to carry out such a sensitive job which can endanger life of workers/engineers and public property," . He alleged that the railways brought down the Hancock bridge in a wrong manner and for five years residents have been suffering.

Railways refutes them
Central Railway, however, refuted the allegations and said that they were willing to give a block as per the BMC's requirements.

"On request from BMC officials, the first block for partial work was operated in the second week of June. The block demand for remaining work was expected by the end of June. But we received the demand on July 16. The demand includes a daytime and all lines (i.e. two slow, two fast and yard lines) block. The timings have been finalised as per their convenience and we are ready from our side. There is no delay on our part," Central Railway's Chief Public Relations Officer Shivaji Sutar said.

The new bridge which is 65 metres in length and 15 metres in width, weighs 660 metric tonnes. The bridge frame parts came from Chandigarh and could not be transported as a complete frame. Hence parts were dismantled and then transported. Now the team of engineers will again assemble it with over 20,000 bolts. The cost of the whole bridge is R52 crore.

65
The length in metres of the bridge

About the bridge

Named after Colonel HF Hancock who served as a member and President of the Bombay Municipal Corporation, the bridge over the railway track near Sandhurst Road was originally built in 1879 and rebuilt in 1923. It was declared unsafe by Central Railway in 2015 and demolished in January 2016.

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