Mumbai: The Rs 150-cr blunder bridge

The construction of the Barfiwala flyover began in 2006. File Pic/Rane Ashish

Rebuilding the Barfiwala flyover, whose misalignment with the Gopal Krishna Gokhale Bridge in Andheri has given commuters a headache, would cost more than Rs 150 crore. The flyover was built by Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) and completed in 2012 after six long years, seeing its cost double, from Rs 23 crore to Rs 46 crore.

Managing traffic on the busy S V Road was one of the main reasons for the delay. If needed to be rebuilt, at today's market rate, the flyover will easily exceed R150 crore, but more than that, the time required for the reconstruction is an issue. Meanwhile, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) continues to be lost at sea regarding the misalignment issue and is awaiting the Veermata Jijabai Technological Institute (VJTI) and Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) recommendations on possible solutions.

After continuous follow-up from residents, the BMC finally opened the Gokhale bridge on February 26 only to add more traffic on SV Road junction at Andheri West due to the mismatch with the Barfiwala flyover mismatch owing to height differences. The Barfiwala flyover was built to connect Juhu galli to Gokhale bridge and back, avoiding S V Road. The construction of the flyover began in 2006 and it was supposed to be completed in 2009. According to officials who worked on the project, apart from traffic on SV Road, land acquisition and shifting of underground utilities were also responsible for the delay.

Also Read: BMC issues detailed clarification over Gokhale Bridge-Barfiwala flyover misalignment reports

"The reconstruction of Gokhale bridge already posed challenges to us. Now this reconstruction will take another four to five years, considering the tender process, work order and actual construction activities," said Dhaval Shah, founder of Lokhandwala Oshiwara Citizens Association.

As one of the footpaths of the Gokhale bridge collapsed in 2018, the BMC decided to reconstruct the bridge and floated a tender for higher slopes in July 2019. The construction started in 2020. "It means they had an idea about the potential mismatched alignment with the Barfiwala flyover that time. Still they waited for five long years, till the public outcry in 2024," said an Andheri West resident.

‘Awaiting reports'

While a senior BMC official has said that the Barfiwala bridge needs to be reconstructed, officials from the bridges department are waiting for a VJTI report which will be cross-verified by an IIT expert. "Though we have our own consultants, the decision to align both bridges will be taken only after receiving reports from both institutes," said an officer.

"If the corporation has asked VJTI and IIT to submit reports on the Barfiwala situation, they should wait for them. How can they just say that it needs to be demolished and reconstructed? Why are they wasting public money on reports, if they want to waste it on reconstruction?" said Shah.

2009
Original deadline for building Barfiwala flyover

Feb 26
Day Gokhale bridge was reopened