Mumbai: CSMT’s collapsed bridge will be up next month

The under-construction Himalaya foot overbridge at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus, on Monday. Pic/Sayyed Sameer Abedi

The Himalaya foot overbridge (FoB) outside Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT) will be ready by March 15, but without an escalator. While the staircase and the bulk of the work are in the final stages, the escalator will take another three to four months, according to civic officials.

Initially, the civic body had come up with the idea of an escalator for the bridge at one of the two openings (on a footpath end) outside CSMT. But the idea was dropped due to a lack of sufficient space, and the BMC floated a tender without an escalator in June 2021. The work was supposed to be completed within 15 months at a cost of Rs 5.75 crore. However, it was stalled for more than three years owing to various reasons.

In 2022, the BMC again decided to install an escalator at another opening (on the internal road) and add it to the current tender. "The work order was issued a few months ago, but it will take a few months to build it at the factory. Once it is completed, it will not take long to install it on the bridge," said an official from the bridges department.

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He added that the deadline for the completion of the bridge is March 15 and the escalator will be installed after four months.

The Himalaya FoB collapsed on March 14, 2019, claiming seven lives and injuring seven. Following the incident, the BMC took seven months to decide whether there was a need for a bridge at the north end of CSMT.

After a survey report revealed that nearly 50,000-plus passengers used the bridge, the civic body decided to rebuild the bridge. While the COVID-19 pandemic delayed the work, delays also occurred due to matters concerning underground utilities, water lines and BEST and MTNL cables, claimed BMC officials.

14
Day in March 2019 that the bridge collapsed