Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, while visiting the Elphinstone Road station in Mumbai where 23 people were killed in a rush-hour stampede, announced that the Army would help the Railways construct the bridge.

Sitharaman said, "The Army has come and seen, inspected and assessed where the bridge is going to be built. They will be there at every stage of the work from planning to execution. The call on seeking the Army's cooperation was taken in the wake of the urgency of the matter as the Army had its role at the borders. It is probably the first time the Army has been asked to come in to build what could otherwise be called civil work, but the Elphinstone tragedy was so big."