Mumbai: Four years on, you still can’t dance on bridges

Guidelines ahead of Ganeshotsav were first issued by civic body in 2019, but to date, most connectors in the city have not been reconstructed

Year after year, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation issues the same warning: “Don’t stop, don’t dance on bridges” for Ganesha processions on old rail overbridges (ROBs). In a new statement, the BMC announced a list of 13 dangerous bridges, four on the Central Railway (CR) and nine on the Western Railway (WR).

The guidelines were first issued in 2019, a year before the pandemic, after the inspection of age-old ROBs. The collapse of the Gokhale bridge in Andheri and the Himalaya foot overbridge (FOB) at CSMT prompted authorities to check the status of the other ROBs and FOBs in 2019. However, most have still not gone under reconstruction.

In a press statement, the BMC mentioned that some of the bridges on the railway line are in a dangerous condition and repair works are in progress. Moreover, Ganesha devotees should be careful while crossing these bridges during the arrival-immersion procession of Lord Ganesha, it said.

“Bridge at Curry Road station, at Chinchpokli Railway Station and ‘Mandlik Bridge’ on the railway line in Byculla area will not carry more than 16 tonnes (combined weight of devotees and vehicles) at a time. 

Even dancing using loudspeakers should not be done on these bridges,” said a BMC official. He added that the devotees can enjoy the festivities after coming down from the bridge. Devotees should not crowd the bridge at one time, and proceed over the bridge immediately without stopping for a long time.

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Civic chief Iqbal Singh Chahal has appealed to Ganesha devotees to be careful during processions over the dangerous railway bridges for immersion and strictly follow the instructions given by the BMC and the police. This year’s Ganesha festival will be celebrated from September 19 to 28. Many of the Ganesha idols have already started arriving at pandals on weekends.

List of dangerous bridges

Central Railway
>> Ghatkopar railway over bridge
>> Currey Road railway over bridge
>> Arthur Road railway over bridge or Chinchpokli railway over bridge
>> Byculla railway over bridge

Western Railway
>> Marine Lines railway over bridge
>> Sandhurst Road railway over bridge (between Grant Road and Charni Road)
>> French railway over bridge (between Grant Road and Charni Road)
>> Kennedy railway over bridge (between Grant Road and Charni Road)
>> Falkland railway over bridge (between Grant Road and Mumbai Central)
>> Bellasis, near Mumbai Central station
>> Mahalakshmi steel railway over bridge
>> Prabhadevi – Carol railway over bridge
>> Lokmanya Tilak railway over bridge at Dadar

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