Changing City: Bridge coming up over Poisar River, connecting Malad and Andheri, BMC floats Rs 250-crore tender

How will the bridge be helpful?

This bridge will originate from behind the Infinity Mall and will extend towards Andheri back road. The back road is in the heart of Andheri, while Infiniti Mall is the heart of Malad. As a result, motorists can move to their desired location easily from here. The travel time between these two places, once the bridge is ready, will be five minutes.

Specifications of the bridge

The bridge will be 400 metres long and 35 metres wide. The carriageways will have two lanes on each side for the smooth flow of traffic. The travel time will be brought down to six minutes.

Some key challenges

The bridge will pass over one hectare of mangrove patch and the Poisar River. Therefore, the civic authorities will have to clear an environmental nod before going ahead with the project.

Current status

The BMC last week floated a Rs 250-crore tender for constructing this bridge. While the idea of constructing this bridge was first mooted in BMC’s Development Plan 2034 model, it was later announced in the civic budget in 2019. However, this is the first time that tenders have been floated.

Timeline for completion

The BMC has set a five-year deadline to complete the bridge.

Administration speaks

“This project will be vital to decongest the north Mumbai area at a time when the upcoming Mumbai Coastal Road is set to become operational in the next few years. These projects that earlier have been delayed have gained momentum with continuous monitoring and regular reviews,” Piyush Goyal, Union Minister and MP from Mumbai (North).

“The basic idea was to connect the two points (Andheri and Malad). Therefore, we proposed multiple locations as options between these two places from where the bridges could originate. However, after careful assessment, the Lagoon Road and Infiniti Mall sites were confirmed since that will create minimum damage to the environment and mangroves,” Abhijit Bangar, Additional Municipal Commissioner (Projects).