Seven more trucks with over 200MT steel are on their way and expected to reach the work site by Wednesday. Officials said that this would now allow them to go ahead and start assembly works for the girder to be launched. Works are being started from the east end of the work site.
The BMC has promised citizens to partially reopen by the bridge by Diwali this year.
Deputy municipal commissioner, infrastructure Ulhas Mahale said, “The order for steel was placed with Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL) and JSW steel Ltd from where is was sent to M/s HMM Infra Ltd where fabrication works of Gokhale bridge were undertaken. We are hoping to meet the completion deadline and all efforts in the direction as been made by the BMC,” said Mahale also adding that the Ambala plant which was affected owing to the floods in northern India has started working back in full capacity and therefore no delay is likely in the project any further.
Local MLA, Ameet Satam said that this will be remembered for being one of the fastest executed projects in the BMC. “I have been regularly following up with the BMC at each stage of the project and therefore as compared to other BMC bridges like Himalaya or Delisle which over shot its deadline several times, this bridge at Andheri will be completed in a record time of one year,” said Satam.
The trucks were welcomed by officers with a live band which was criticised by locals who expressed that such showcases were unnecessary. Criminal Lawyer Trivankumar Karnani also the spokesperson of the twitter handle @MNCDFbombay which is a citizen welfare forum questioned why was the BMC blowing a trumpet about the material having arrived at the work site?. “The Gokhale bridge being a crucial connector between the east and west should have been completed on top priority. It was on July 3, 2018, the pedestrian section of the bridge had collapsed leading to the death of two people and even five years later we still await a new bridge,” said Karnani.
Last year the BMC wrote to the Joint CP Traffic on November 1, 2022 stating that the bridge is unsafe for vehicular movement as an inspection found that various bridge elements like RCC columns, tie beams, griders, deck slab and bearings are heavily distressed and lost their strength due to corrosion and environmental degradation. . It was shut to pedestrians and motorists on November 7, 2022.
