Activists feel already delayed work will get held up further
The BMC has already missed the deadline to open at least two lanes
The civic chief Iqbal Singh Chahal visited the Gokhale bridge site on Monday along with local MLA Amit Satam to inspect the work being carried out. Activists, meanwhile, say the work of the bridge is way behind schedule as of now. The bridge has been closed for almost one year, since the first week of November 2022 and the BMC already missed the deadline to open at least two lanes before the monsoon. It then declared another deadline of November end.
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According to a Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) official, the formation of the first girder, weighing about 1,300 tonnes at a height of 25 metres at the project site has been completed.
Civic chief I S Chahal at the site on Monday
Now this girder will be moved 100 metres forward on the railway track, then shifted about 13.5 metres to the north and then lowered by about 7.5 metres.
Keeping in view the weight of the girder, the spacing of its installation, etc., it is necessary to coordinate with the railway administration and carry out the work as per schedule. So the municipal commissioner made an inspection visit to the project site.
Chahal said that the work of Gokhale bridge must be completed at the earliest. In order to avoid any hindrance while installing the girder, a meeting will be held on Friday (October 27) at the BMC headquarters. The general manager of Western Railway, the divisional manager, and other rail and municipal officers concerned, will be invited to the meeting along with the project contractors.
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Dhaval Shah, founder of Andheri Lokhandwala Oshiwara Citizens Association, said, “Don’t think the work is going on as per schedule. We estimate that the work is already delayed by at least two weeks.
The work will further extend if the railway doesn’t give a block on time. We fear that the dates will not be finalised at Friday’s coordination meeting.”
Nov 2022
Month Gokhale bridge was shut
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