Mumbai: 3 battered bridges hold SoBo traffic by slender thread

Three old bridges in south Mumbai are in need of major repairs however the work is stuck for years thanks to bureaucracy The Traffic Police Department has refused to close Kennedy Annasaheb Patil and Byculla Y bridges for twothree months as requested said civic officials The reason these are trafficheavy spots ldquoWho will take responsibility if any further delay leads to an unfortunate mishaprdquo asked a BMC officialThe traffic police said that with many roads closed for Metro or civic works they cannot risk closing these three crucial links for repair works which was ordered after BMCrsquos structural audits over the past yearsAccording to officials the demolition of Carnac bridge in Mazagon and incomplete Delisle bridge in Parel have added to the pressure of managing traffic movementAlso read Gokhale bridge BMC finally gets on drawing boardKennedy Bridge in Grant RoadldquoBearings act as shock absorbers If the bearings of a bridge are not repaired in time the impact directly comes on the girders and columns which results in cracks and ultimately in failuresrdquo said an officialKennedy bridgeThe bridge over the Western Railway line near Grant Road ldquoneeds major structural repairrdquo said a civic official from the BMCrsquos Bridges departmentldquoWe started the work in 2019 and completed most of it However the bearings in the column and the slabs need to be changed which is crucial for the safe functioning of the bridge The slabs need to be lifted by 10 mm to replace the bearings hence we need the bridge to be closed for trafficrdquo he addedThe official said the bridge was closed for a month in May for concretisation of the adjacent road so the BMC sought permission from the traffic police to repair it However they said no alleged the officialY bridge in Byculla on Wednesday PicsAshish RajeSitaram Annasaheb bridgesIn August 2021 the BMC finalised a contractor to repair three bridgesByculla Y bridge located opposite the Mumbai Fire Brigade headquarters Annasaheb Patil Bridge near Gloria Church in Byculla and Olivant Rail Overbridge in MazagonWhile Olivant bridge was completely patched up the work on the other two never finished The BMC needed both the bridges shut for at least three months as they needed major structural repairsAnnasaheb Patil Bridge near Gloria ChurchldquoThe scope of work on Annasaheb Patil Bridge expanded besides replacement of bearings We also needed to demolish and reconstruct the parapet wall We need at least three months We are awaiting approval from the senior authority in the BMCrdquo said another civic officialldquoHowever we wrote to the traffic police nine months back for permission to close Y bridge for repair works There has been no response until todayrdquo the official addedUnder the Byculla Y bridge there are local centres of BMCrsquos various departments like solid waste management maintenance and water For repairs these would have to be shifted the official saidKennedy bridgeAnother BMC official said ldquoWe can understand the issue of traffic We were not asking for immediate closure back then but the issue is boiling now The traffic police should at least give us in writing why they denied a no objection certificaterdquoldquoWho will take responsibility for these bridges and the commutersrsquo safety if there is some damage or a part collapsesrdquo asked the officialByculla Y bridge PicsAshish RajeRajvardhan Sinha joint commissioner police Traffic told midday ldquoWe are in the process of evaluation and are chalking out strategies for alternative routesrdquoP Velrasu additional commissioner of the BMC did not respond to middayrsquos call for comment till the time of going to the press