MUMBAI: The road over-bridge across the railway tracks near
Byculla may be closed for heavy vehicles soon.
A report is still awaited but it is learnt that the joint audit team led by IIT-B has expressed concern over the stability of the bridge. The bridge is located close to Khada
Parsi statue and is an important route to and from CSMT,
Colaba and Nariman Point.
Its closure for heavy vehicles means several important bus routes will have to be diverted to circuitous routes through congested parts.
"The report is not yet formally received but during the inspection concerns were raised about its safety and a suggestion mooted that it should be closed for heavy vehicles," a CR official said on condition of anonymity. "It is a skew bridge and difficult to maintain and there are concerns of debris falling on the tracks even though it is not as dangerous as the Lower
Parel bridge."
The audit done under the supervision of IIT-B professor Pradipta Banerji, who is the principal investigator i the team. So far, 22 bridges have been inspected on CR and 3 on WR.
"This bridge seemed to be dangerous but not as much as the Delilse bridge at Lower Parel," a source said. "The IIT team has also asked for more photographs of the bridge to ascertain the stability of the bridge."
Several heavy vehicles use the bridge to ferry goods to wholesale markets in Kalbadevi and areas around
Crawford Market.
CR is likely to write to the state government as well as the BMC about bridges over railway tracks.
"We are not happy with the attitude of the BMC. They want us to build the bridge which is illogical as our sole purpose is to run trains. If we build a bridge here, similar demands can come up from civic authorities in other parts of country," a senior CR official said.
Byculla ROB
