BMC to raze 69-year-old Patel Bridge as precautionary measure

The bridge, which crosses over the Marine Drive and connects the western side of the Charni Road station with the Mafatlal Swimming Pool across the road on the far western side, was constructed in 1953.

One of its distinguishing features is that it was privately constructed, the work funded by A J Patel who later formed the Patel Trust. The Trust had four members – two each nominated by Patel and the BMC. The BMC-nominated members were officials from the bridges and assessment and collection departments.

The Trust held the advertisement rights. According to civic officials, the clauses of the contract for the rights stated that a portion of revenue generated by the Trust from displaying advertisements would be transferred to the BMC which will take up routine maintenance works.

After the Himalaya Bridge collapsed in 2019, the BMC disallowed setting up of advertisement hoardings on Mumbai bridges. Owing to this, revenue generation also took a backseat, eventually affecting the maintenance of the bridge as well, and prompting the BMC bridges department to issue a notice to the current trustees – the Jhaverbhai Tarjabhai Patel Smarak Trust – for pulling it down.

“The grills and staircases have become weak and almost the entire bridge is rusted. During the monsoon, the structure shakes frequently. Therefore, pulling down the bridge is the need of the hour because it passes over the Marine Drive which is used by lakhs of people daily, including VIPs. Before it collapses accidentally, we will have to pull it down as a precautionary measure or else it may lead to loss of lives and properties,” the official cited above added.

In a meeting on September 21, the trustees gave their consent to pulling down the bridge for the larger public interest.

Officials of the bridges department said that a new formula of digital advertisement and compensation to the heirs would be chalked out after the bridge is demolished. P Velrasu, additional municipal commissioner (Projects), said the civic body will construct a new bridge at the same place.

“As of now, our main priority is to pull down the present structure at the earliest and we intend to do it within the next few weeks,” Velrasu said. Despite frequent attempts, The Indian Express could not get a comment from the trustees of Jhaverbhai Tarjabhai Patel Smarak Trust.