Safety hazard: 3 bridges to be shut in Mumbai

The Railways is going to shut two bridges at Badlapur and Andheri stations from Monday for repairs. The foot overbridge at Badlapur will be shut till September 3. The Andheri road bridge would be closed till November 3.

Gokhale bridge collapse, Andheri, Vile Parle

The pathway of GK Gokhale bridge between Andheri and Vile Parle stations had collapsed two weeks ago. (Express photo by Santosh Parab)

As Mumbai grapples with traffic congestion with five road overbridges being shut, the Railways is set to close three more. While Patripul bridge at Kalyan station is likely to be shut with immediate effect, two more overbridges are going to be closed from Monday.

After part of G K Gokhale bridge at Andheri station collapsed on July 3, the Railways, along with the Indian Institute of Technology, Mumbai, started inspecting bridges that are in bad condition. The Railways is going to shut two bridges at Badlapur and Andheri stations from Monday for repairs.

The foot overbridge at Badlapur will be shut till September 3. The Andheri road bridge would be closed till November 3.

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Sunil Udasi, the chief spokesperson, Central Railway, said: “A safety audit was conducted of Patri RoB on July 20 by the Railways, Kalyan Dombivali Municipal Corporation (KDMC) and IIT, Mumbai. As per the report, the KDMC has been informed to stop pedestrian movement on the bridge, notify the public not to use the bridge in view of safety and arrange for dismantling the bridge at the earliest.”

He added that crowd management arrangements will be made at Badlapur. As of now, pedestrian movement on part of Gokhale bridge, Kalanagar road overbridge at Bandra, a road overbridge at Vasai and a skywalk at Malad station has been suspended.

The Western Railway has already floated tenders for the demolition of Delisle bridge at Lower Parel, where vehicular movement has been suspended since last week. The IIT has also identified six other road overbridges in Mumbai as corroded and in need of urgent repairs.

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