Mumbai: Delisle Road bridge won’t be ready next year either

Even as the railway authority took up the work of placing the first girder on Lower Parel’s Delisle Road bridge, giving a boost to the project amid hopes of completion by the year-end, the projected completion time has again been delayed and the bridge is unlikely to open for vehicular movement before 2023.

The bridge was shut for traffic in July 2018 and has met several delays, the major ones being the COVID-19 pandemic and the lack of skilled labour thereafter. The railway authority is likely to complete the bridge work by October 2022, and the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation can work on the approach road only after that. Mumbai Suburban Guardian Minister Aadtiya Thackeray, who visited the site on Sunday, has blamed the railway authority for the delay.

Thackeray said, “Meetings have been held with the Railways regarding this work. Railways have now given time till October 30, 2022, to complete the work. The BMC can’t undertake further work till the work of the railway administration is completed. Therefore, the railway administration must explain to citizens the exact technical reasons for the delay in their work.  Necessary work has been done so far for the access roads by the BMC. When the railways completes the construction of the girder, the rest of the work by the BMC will be completed immediately.”

“The BMC has provided funds to the railways for its 85-metre construction. It is also constructing three access roads of a total of 600 metres, two coming from NM Joshi Marg and one from Ganpatrao Kadam Marg,” said a BMC official.

The Railways said work was on in full swing. “Work is on in full swing and is being closely monitored. The bridge timelines were delayed due to the pandemic. The two key reasons for delay have been unavailability of industrial oxygen since it had been diverted for medical use during the pandemic, and also since April 2021, the absence of skilled labour due to the lockdown in various states. The first mega girder of the bridge will be placed over the Western Railway in a month in May 2022. The bridge has been additionally strengthened so that it can sustain for long with heavier loads of traffic,” a Western Railway spokesperson said.

Underground tank work

Thackeray also took a review of the work for the underground tank at St Xaviers Ground, Parel which is nearing completion. The tank will be able to store 2.87 crore litres of water, thus giving relief to the Hindmata area from waterlogging during monsoon.

“People are witnessing good results since the last monsoon,” Thackeray said, adding, “Similar measures will be taken by studying the Milan subway and other low lying areas.”

A BMC official said, “The civic body is constructing another tank at Pramod Mahajan Udyan, Dadar. This tank will also be used to accumulate rainwater from the Dadar East area to Parel TT flyover are to prevent waterlogging.”

2024

Year when the bridge could open to traffic