The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) is set to reopen the new Carnac bridge on Thursday after rechristening it as “Sindoor bridge”, in honour of Operation Sindoor — the military operation launched against terror sites in Pakistan. A senior BMC official told The Indian Express Tuesday that the proposal to rename the bridge was put forth by Maharashtra Speaker Rahul Narvekar. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis is set to inaugurate the bridge at 10 am on Thursday and the inauguration ceremony will also be attended by Deputy CMs Eknath Shinde and Ajit Pawar, and Narvekar. A key east-west connector linking Masjid in south Mumbai with P D Mello Road, the 154-year-old bridge was razed in a four-day operation in 2022, after a structural audit deemed it unfit for use. It was following this that the BMC, along with the railways, launched the reconstruction of the British-era bridge at a cost of over Rs 60 crore over a period of three years. While the civic body had completed works on the bridge and load testing by June 13, its opening had been delayed owing to the procurement of a No-Objection Certificate from Central Railway as well as final touches such as installation of signages. The delayed opening had also become the grounds for the joint protest launched by the Shiv Sena (UBT) and MNS on July 2. “The bridge has been renamed after Operation Sindoor. On Tuesday, we received the letter from Rahul Narwekar suggesting the new name, following which the name was finalised,” the official said. A direct response to the terror attack in Pahalgam on April 22, Operation Sindoor was launched between May 6 and 7 by India against terrorist infrastructure at nine locations in Pakistan. Built in 1868, Carnac bridge is one of the oldest bridges of the city and is named after Sir James Rivett-Carnac, who served as Governor of Bombay from 1839 to 1841. The new Sindoor bridge has a total length of 328 metres, of which nearly 70 metres within the railway jurisdiction. While the old bridge catered to two-lane traffic, the new bridge will consist of four vehicular lanes, facilitating twice the vehicular flow and smoother movement. Once opened for vehicular movement, the connector will ease traffic along the Yusuf Mehrally road, Mohammad Ali road, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel road among others.
