Enough is enough! Give us timeline for Gokhale bridge: Andheri residents to BMC

The work of steel plate binding started on Tuesday

Tired of the constantly changing deadlines, residents of Andheri have written a letter to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) commissioner on Tuesday, urging the fixing of a day-to-day timeline and sharing it with the public. In the letter, residents claim that the BMC has taken six months to assemble and place a bridge that could otherwise be completed within two months, displaying a lax attitude towards its completion. Despite the BMC's assurance that the second phase, allowing buses to ply, will be completed before the monsoon, residents mentioned in the letter that the girders for the same phase haven't arrived at the site yet.

The BMC has provided several deadlines, starting from May 2023, to complete one lane of the bridge. Recently, the corporation set another deadline to complete one lane by the end of February 2024. In the letter signed by residents, they have requested Commissioner Iqbal Singh Chahal to treat the reopening of the bridge with a war-room-type crisis-resolution focus.

The girders were lowered in the intervening night between Monday and Tuesday

The letter also attached a press note dated January 17, 2024, by the BMC, claiming that the work of lowering girders was completed on January 14. However, residents pointed out in the letter that the work wasn't completed until January 21, as revealed during a site visit. The girders were eventually lowered on January 23. The letter highlighted various remaining works on the bridge, including connecting portions between railway and municipal bridges.

The utility ducts under footpaths have not been built. In 2018, the footpaths of the bridge collapsed due to utility overload on the pedestrian bridge. Even the construction of a planned pedestrian staircase hasn't started yet. The work on the second phase of the bridge hasn't begun either. Although the BMC assured that the second phase would be completed before the monsoon, the girders have not arrived at the site. Only cars will be able to use the first phase, affecting daily commuting for lakhs of people in the area.

The residents requested the appointment of a senior officer for day-to-day monitoring of the work and the issuance of daily status updates for the bridge. When mid-day asked Ulhas Mahale, deputy municipal commissioner of the BMC, about the two dates of lowering the girders, he said it was a technical matter. Meanwhile, local MLA Amit Satam informed residents that BMC officials stated the steel plate binding has started and concreting is proposed on January 27.

Feb 2024
New deadline to complete the bridge