After facing criticism over the Himalaya foot overbridge (FOB) collapse last week, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has decided to shut 11 bridges and FOBs that were declared ‘extremely dilapidated’.
The bridges will now be pulled down.
Six people died and 31 were injured after the FOB connected to the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus collapsed on March 14. The incident led to questions as to why bridges declared dilapidated by the BMC have still not been demolished.
The FOB at Marine Lines has been closed for pedestrians. | Photo Credit: Arunangsu Roy Chowdhury
After the Mahad and Andheri bridge collapses, the BMC had appointed consultants for a structural audit of more than 290 bridges and FOBs. Of these, 110 were found to be in good condition, 107 said to require minor repairs and 61 major repairs, and 14 were to be demolished.
Three of the 14 — Tilak Nagar FOB, Gandhi Nagar bridge in Malad and Yellowgate FOB at Masjid — have been demolished. some of the rest, including the two FOBs at Marine Lines, were closed for movement before the incident at CSMT. Since Friday, the BMC has started barricading the others.
Additional Municipal Commissioner Vijay Singhal said, “We will ensure that the bridges that are not shut yet are closed for pedestrian movement, and also no movement happens near them as an immediate measure.”
Attracting bidders
The BMC had originally planned phase-wise demolition of the bridges to minimise the impact on traffic and pedestrian movement.
The next step will now be to finalise work orders for demolition. As per procedure, a contractor is appointed after a tendering process. Since some of these bridges are shorter than 1 km, contractors may not consider the job lucrative. The BMC has not been able to get bidders for at least two of them.
Meanwhile, all bridges and FOBs will be re-audited, and if required, changes will be made to the work orders.