CM Devendra Fadnavis opens new Carnac Bridge, rechristened Sindoor Bridge: ‘Must wipe pages of India’s black history’

Built in 1868, the erstwhile Carnac Bridge was amongst the oldest bridges in Mumbai and was named after Sir James Rivett-Carnac, who served as the Governor of Bombay from 1839 to 1841.

CM Fadnavis, during the inauguration, said that the bridge had been renamed after the success of Operation Sindoor to erase the pages of India’s black history where the then Governor Carnac had unleashed a series of atrocities against Indians.

“For many years, this bridge was known as Carnac Bridge after the then British governor Carnac. However, if we look at the history of Governor Carnac, he carried out a lot of atrocities against Indians. In the historic account of Satara written by Prabodhankar Thackeray, a chapter on Satara’s Pratap Singh Raje Chhatrapati and Rango Bapu illustrates how Carnac had made multiple attempts to trap Chhatrapati in a conspiracy. We must wipe the pages of India’s black history, including Carnac who has carried out atrocities against Indians. Therefore, we decided to change the name of this atrocious governor and rename it after Operation Sindoor,” he said.

“Operation Sindoor showed our strength, and Indian forces destroyed terrorist sites and air bases with precision,” he added.

Vehicles ply on Sindoor Bridge after it has been open for vehicular traffic today, in Mumbai on 10 July 2025. Express photo by Sankhadeep Banerjee.

In 2022, the old structure was pulled down after a structural audit deemed the British-era bridge unsafe for daily traffic. Following this, the civic body commenced works on the reconstruction of a longer and wider bridge, which was completed by June 13.

However, its opening had been delayed for over a month as the No Objection Certificate from Central Railway and some final works like installation of lights and signage were pending. The delay has led to a joint protest by Shiv Sena (UBT) and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) on July 2.

Earlier, The Indian Express had reported that the proposal to rename the bridge after Operation Sindoor was floated by Maharashtra Assembly Speaker Rahul Narvekar, who wrote a letter to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC).

Narvekar, along with Maharashtra’s Minister of Skill, Employment, Entrepreneurship, and Innovations, Mangal Prabhat Lodha, and senior officials of BMC, including civic chief Bhushan Gagrani, were also present during the inauguration ceremony.

The Sindoor Bridge has a total length of 328 metres, of which nearly 70 metres is within the Railways’ 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.

By linking the port area with commercial hubs of Crawford Market, Kalbadevi and Dhobi Talao, the connector will ease traffic along the Yusuf Mehrally road, Mohammad Ali road, and Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel road among others.