Sewri-Worli Elevated Connector: Dismantling of Elphinstone bridge begins, to be replaced by double-decker bridge

The Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) gave the go-ahead for demolition to build a new double-decker bridge. The Elphinstone Bridge which was built in the late 19th century had over five lakh passengers commuting through it every day and it connected to major neighbourhoods with places of work, schools and hospitals like Tata Memorial and KEM, besides being a crossing between Central and Western Railway lines.

The development comes after seven months of negotiations and delays that set the project behind schedule — the bridge was originally planned to be demolished in February.

Its dismantling, though unavoidable for the new project, will bring inconvenience until an alternative is brought.

Diversions for commuters

For east-west traffic, vehicles from Dadar will be diverted via Tilak Bridge. The Parel East to Prabhadevi and Lower Parel traffic will be allowed to cross Currey Road Bridge between 7 am and 3 pm and the same bridge will have west to east traffic between 3 pm and 11 pm. During other hours, the bridge will be used as a two-way connector.

Chinchpokli Bridge will now be the designated route for traffic coming in from Parel and Byculla towards Worli, the Coastal Road and the Sea Link. It will also take the opposite traffic within allowed time slots. A number of stretches, such as Senapati Bapat Road and Mahadev Palav Road, have been issued no-parking notices to decongest.

For emergencies, ambulances and wheelchairs have been placed close to the Parel and Prabhadevi station.

What is in store for future

Instead of the current 13-metre wide bridge, MMRDA plans a 17-metre wide, 132-metre long double-decker bridge. The lower deck will have 4 lanes (two for either side of traffic) and pedestrian paths and the top deck will feature four lanes leading directly into the Sewri Worli Connector. Once completed, it will connect Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Road and Senapati Bapat Road to the future corridor from Atal Setu and Navi Mumbai into Worli.

The Sewri Worli Connector itself is planned to link three large projects — the Bandra Worli Sea Link, Mumbai Coastal Road and the Mumbai Trans Harbour Link (Atal Setu).

By connecting them, it seeks to ease the burden on internal roads and provide smoother connectivity from Navi Mumbai and eastern suburbs to south and central Mumbai.

Rehabilitation of residents

The demolitions have affected people living in around 19 buildings around the bridge.

Of those, 83 families from Lakshmi Nivas and Haji Noorani Chawl have been relocated to MHADA housing in the vicinity.

Earlier relocation proposals to Kurla had run into trouble, halting the bridge’s closure.

As many as 17 buildings which are still impacted are under the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation and are still pending relocation.

Homeowners with units less than 300 sq ft will be given 405 sq ft homes according to the rehabilitation scheme, and those with houses ranging from 300 to 1,292 sq ft will be provided with an equivalent size area and an additional 35 per cent.

An MMRDA project site engineer associated with the project said, “While the bridge is set to be dismantled, we would proceed with the development following legal steps and our aim is to complete the assigned work within the stipulated time frame.”

Though the official date of closure came into effect from September 12, traffic diversions were implemented from September 10.

The traffic police had imposed restrictions and were waiting for MMRDA’s official nod for demolishing. Now that permissions have been obtained, demolition will start in steps.

For the coming 18 months, commuters will have to put up with longer travel times and diversions, especially those traveling to hospitals in Parel or offices in Lower Parel.