Mumbai: New Himalaya FOB outside CSMT may be opened in March

The BMC has decided to put an escalator along with the staircase at one end of the bridge. Pic/Sameer Markande

The construction of the Himalaya foot overbridge outside CSMT may be completed soon and it may be thrown open to the public in March. The FOB crashed in March 2019, claiming seven lives. Work on rebuilding it was stalled for more than three years due to various reasons.

The fall of this bridge had led to the process of re-auditing of all city and suburban bridges, and closure of dilapidated ones. "The work of joining the girders is on in full swing and we are trying to complete the remaining work within a month," said an engineer from the bridges department.

The Himalaya foot overbridge collapsed on March 14, 2019, claiming seven lives and injuring seven others. 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 audit reports revealed that nearly 50,000-plus passengers used the bridge, in June 2021, the BMC floated a tender; the work was supposed to be completed within 15 months at a cost of Rs 5.75 crore.

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But the COVID-19 pandemic delayed the work. The further delay was due to underground utilities, claimed BMC officials. A civic official said, "There were underground utilities like water lines, BEST cables, MTNL cables, etc. which had to be managed before construction of pillars. It took almost a year for the same. There was the issue of unavailability of land to widen the bridge also."

Now after a delay of almost a year and half, the bridge is near completion and the BMC says it may reopen for the public in March.

Initially the BMC came up with the idea of an escalator to the bridge at the opposite side of the CSMT but the idea was dropped due to lack of sufficient space. But in 2022, the BMC again decided to put an escalator and a staircase at one end.