After missing three deadlines, bridge to open after much local, political drama
The first deadline to open the bridge was set for May 2022
The long-awaited Delisle Bridge of Lower Parel will finally be fully open today. The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) however, is yet to install two escalators and four approach staircases for the use of pedestrians. Three deadlines lapsed for opening the last part of the crucial bridge opened for traffic.
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The first arm of the bridge, from the Senapati Bapat Marg Junction to Ganpatrai Kadam Marg toward Parel, was open for traffic on June 1, 2023. Then another arm towards N M Joshi Marg was open for traffic on September 18. The BMC had assured that the full bridge would be open for traffic from October end. However, it was delayed. Last week Shiv Sena UBT leader Aaditya Thackeray opened a part of the bridge. But civic authorities closed that part claiming some work is pending. The police registered cases under various Sections (143, 149, 326 and 447) of the Indian Penal Code against him for forcefully opening the bridge.
Guardian Minister (Mumbai City) Deepak Kesarkar will inaugurate final the part of the bridge today evening. “For pedestrians, the BMC is going to construct four staircases and erect two escalators,” Kesarkar said.
Second arm of Delisle Bridge was opened in September. File pic/Ashish Raje
“The new bridge has three lanes on each side, an upgrade from the old which had two lanes on each side. The addition would reduce traffic congestion on the bridge. Also, as the new bridge is set on pillars, pedestrians will get additional space to walk below the bridge,” said an official.
The bridge was closed to traffic overnight in July 2018, following a structural stability report submitted by IIT-Bombay. Actual work on the bridge started in 2022. The joint project by the BMC and Western Railway missed three deadlines for opening, with the first having been set for May 2022.
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According to the BMC official, one of the most challenging tasks of the entire project was the installation of two girders with a length of 90 metres and weighing 1100 tonne each over the Western Railway tracks during the reconstruction work of the Lower Paral bridge. After that, the southern portion was handed over to the BMC for demolition in October 2022. During the pandemic, there was a shortage of oxygen, and challenges in working in the railway sector, recently there was a shortage of gravel which hit projects.
According to the records, the bridge was closed to traffic in July 2018 after the IIT-Bombay report. In February 2019, the railway area was evicted for construction and work started in September 2019 in the Western Railway area. In the BMC area work commenced in February 2020. The first girder was installed by Western Railway in June 2022, while the second was laid in October 2022.
Missed deadlines
. May 2022
. December 2023
. May 2023
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