Zebra crossing offers a temporary solution at CST, after mishap

A zebra crossing is a temporary solution to the the foot overbridge that collapsed on Thursday, killing six persons and injuring 31. Pic/Ashish Raje

To help commuters navigate the vacuum left by the FOB, the BMC - as a temporary measure - is creating a pedestrian crossing in its stead, after coordinating with the traffic police. Officials from A ward will also be installing a pedestrian signal at the site. Kiran Dighavkar, assistant municipal commissioner of A ward, said the crossing should be open to public from Monday.

Dighavkar added that a holding area for pedestrians will also be constructed, along with signs signalling motor vehicles to go slow. Since a pedestrian crossing will be placed here for the first time, traffic police will monitor vehicles for a few days to ensure they slow down while approaching it from both the northern (JJ) and southern (Fort) ends. Without the FOB, pedestrians had to walk till the subway at CST to cross the road to enter CST.

Traffic study before reconstruction
The BMC also said that it would conduct a traffic study before reconstructing the new bridge, said civic chief Ajoy Mehta. Mehta pointed out that when the traffic study was last conducted, the traffic patterns may have been different.

"It doesn't make sense to simply reconstruct what was there before. The new study will take into account the number of pedestrians and traffic flow. It may even throw up some new alternatives to the previous bridge."

He said the BMC would work in collaboration with the Central Railways and work on the study will begin soon. He also clarified that this traffic study will be carried out independently of the departmental inquiry into what caused the bridge collapse, which should be completed in a month's time.

A sign on the FOB, announcing repairs

Notices sent
The BMC issued notices to CV Kand Consultants and Structwel Designers and Consultants, who have been directed to inspect and review the structural audit report of all the bridges again. CV Kand Consultants audited 157 bridges in the western suburbs at a cost of Rs 1.5 crore; Structwel audited 66 bridges in the eastern suburbs for Rs 49.39 lakh.

The BMC placed the bulk of the responsibility on Professor DD Desai's Associated Engineering Consultants, which had submitted the structural audit of the FOB a few months earlier. The BMC issued notices to them, and RPS Infrastructure, who repaired the FOB in 2013, on Saturday, mentioning that there were major lapses. The former has been de-empanelled from the list of structural auditors, while the registration of RPS has been cancelled.

Also Read: CST bridge collapse: I felt the bridge wobble before it crashed, says survivor

Catch up on all the latest Mumbai news, crime news, current affairs, and also a complete guide on Mumbai from food to things to do and events across the city here. Also download the new mid-day Android and iOS apps to get latest updates