MAKE MMRDA PARTY TO 2006 BANDRA FOB PETITION: HC

MUMBAI:THE Bombay high court has directed that the Mumbai Metropolitan Regional Development Authority (MMRDA) be added as a party to a suo moto writ petition regarding the completion of a foot overbridge (FOB) connecting Bandra east and west.

According to the petition filed in 2006, the FOB was intended to connect all railway platforms in Bandra to the Bandra Kurla Complex skywalk. However, it has not served the purpose as a 50-metre stretch on the FOB remains incomplete. As a result, commuters have to use the adjoining, old FOB, which is likely to collapse due to heavy pedestrian traffic during peak hours. Advocate K P P Nair, appearing for the petitioner, informed the division bench of acting chief justice Naresh Patil and justice G S Kulkarni that the FOB connecting Bandra west and east at the southern end of the station was old and not meant to take the burden of lakhs of commuters.

“The bridge is in a precarious condition and if it collapses, it could result in more deaths than was witnessed during the Elphinstone Road stampede,” said Nair. If the bridge collapsed, then the FOB at the northern end of Bandra station would be the only access route remaining, he pointed out.

The Railways said they had constructed a new FOB parallel to the old one, but it was restricted till platform five. Extending the FOB till the BKC skywalk was held up owing to issues with other government bodies. The bench asked which authority was responsible for the extension. It then passed the order and posted the matter for hearing on October 10.