Bombay High Court refuses to stay demolition of 150-year-old Carnac bridge

Mumbai: The Bombay High Court on Tuesday refused to stay the demolition of Carnac bridge, situated between Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT) and Masjid railway station.

A division bench of Justice Naresh Patil and Justice Girish Kulkarni turned down the plea of activist Kamlakar Shenoy seeking stay on the decision of the Central Railways to demolish the 150-year-old Carnac bridge.

In his application, Shenoy claimed the bridge was important for the people living in Masjid and CSMT. He claimed the bridge was one of the only route for people to travel from one side to the other and that it helped people to avoid using railway tracks. He sought an alternate arrangement for the people before going ahead with the demolition.

He even urged the judges not to allow demolition of the bridge unless the railways place on record the structural audit reports to substantiate its claims of the Carnac bridge being dangerous. On the other hand, the railways told the judges the bridge was categorised as dilapidated and dangerous.

Having heard the submissions, Justice Patil said, “We think there is ample proof on record to conclude that the bridge is a dangerous structure and so no hindrance must be caused in the process of demolishing it.”

“We are of the opinion that once the railways have declared it dangerous, we will not endanger the lives of thousands and lakhs of people by staying the demolition. We are aware that there might be some inconvenience and in our view this inconvenience is much better than endangering the lives of innocent citizens. We are not inclined to stay the demolition,” Justice Patil added. The matter will be heard after three weeks.