Mumbai: Sion bridge shut, ripples all over eastern suburbs

Confusion reigned supreme on day one of the Sion bridge's closure as vehicles clogged up Dharavi, the Eastern Express Highway and Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Road. Motorists said the authorities should have put up maps highlighting alternative routes. Imtiyaz Sheikh, a Wadala resident who works as a generator mechanic in Dharavi, said he was not aware of the closing of the bridge. "Now I need to go to work via Sulochana Shetty Road, a longer route."

Antop Hill resident Vikram Singh, whose office is at Bandra Kurla Complex, also said he was clueless about the closure of the bridge. "I'm not aware of alternative routes. If a map were put up at Sion, it would be useful for people like me who are not familiar with the city's roads. I will use a digital map but not everyone has access to one," Singh said.

The topmost layer of asphalt has been peeled off the bridge

Aditya Pawar, a motorist who did not take the route regularly, said, "I wasn't aware that the bridge is closed. My destination is near the Dharavi bus depot but I need to take a long route now." Pedestrians told mid-day that proper arrangements should have been made for them.

Pradip Kadam, a Dharavi resident, said, "I need to drop my grandchild at school in Dharavi East. Hundreds of Dharavi residents used to use the bridge to cross from east to west. The authorities should have made provisions for pedestrians and students who now need to walk one to two kilometres daily just to cross the railway tracks."

Traffic hell

Anil Padwal, a Vikhroli resident who works in Bandra East said, "I'm aware that the bridge is closed from Monday. The traffic situation on the SCLR [Santacruz-Chembur Link Road] is terrible because of this."

The Eastern Express Highway, which was highly congested due to the bridge's closure, on Thursday. Pic/Atul Kamble

Apart from the SCLR, Bandra Kurla Complex-Chunabhatti connector and Sulochana Shetty Road, the Dharavi-Sion connector and 90 Feet Road in Dharavi were heavily congested on Thursday. A biker who was riding on 90 Feet Road said vehicles parked on the stretch were exacerbating the situation. "The authorities should tackle this issue on a war footing as this is the most important road now," he said.

According to the Central Railway (CR) authorities' plans, the Sion road overbridge will remain shut till July 2026. On day one, the upper layer of asphalt was removed from the structure.