Andheri's Gokhale Bridge partially open to traffic

The portion of the bridge over the railway tracks is currently being repaired by the Western Railways while the civic body will take over the rest. Pic/Shadab Khan

Much to the relief of Andheri's harrowed residents, Gokhale Bridge, that had partially collapsed in July this year, is now open to traffic. A single lane of the bridge is up and functional, and so is a small temporary pedestrian walkway. Work on rebuilding the portion of the bridge over the railway tracks is being undertaken by railway authorities while the complete repairs will eventually be done by the civic body.

The mishap had completely damaged the west-bound pedestrian walkway causing much inconvenience to commuters, especially during the peak hours, with just a single lane for traffic both ways. The Western Railways had earlier asked the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) to consider limiting the weight of utility cables on bridges built over railway lines. The civic body has now begun to remove the paver blocks on the east-bound side of the bridge to take some weight off the bridge, and is constructing new footpaths. For the convenience of pedestrians, authorities have also made a temporary narrow walkway on the bridge using barricades.

"It was a collective decision of all agencies to throw open one lane for traffic and also for pedestrians. The work order granted for carrying out repair works over the railways is for six months," said Ravindra Bhaker, Western Railways' chief public relations officer. A senior BMC official said that the civic body would be taking up the repair work entirely later. "Once this part of the bridge is complete, we will move towards repairing the approach roads at both ends," he said.

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