Himalaya Bridge at CSMT likely to be ready by mid-2023, says BMC
MUMBAI: If everything goes according to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s (BMC) plan, the Himalaya Bridge near Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT) will be ready for pedestrians by mid-2023, civic officials said.
The BMC’S standing committee on Friday finalised the contractor for the construction of the bridge that had collapsed in 2019 killing seven. The contractor has been given a period of 15 months – excluding the monsoon period – for the construction, at a cost of around ₹6.5 crore. Earlier, the plan was to have the bridge constructed by the end of 2022, but the tendering took time owing to the second Covid-19 wave.
The standing committee approved the construction almost five months after bids for the purpose were floated. BMC has proposed the Himalaya Bridge’s length to be 33m and width to be 4.4m. The construction is expected to be done using stainless steel that will be supported by pier. As per the draft design prepared by BMC, there will be three entry and exit points for the bridge.
Congress corporator Javed Juneja, who is a member of the standing committee, said, “I had suggested that the BMC should have drawn plans in a way that there was an entry and exit from either side of the FOB (foot overbridge) considering that the current design leads a person directly into the railway station premises and the bridge will not be useful for crossing roads. But BMC said the heritage committee would have a problem with it.”
The Himalaya Bridge was constructed by BMC in 1988 and was mainly used by rail commuters. Prior to its collapse, the civic body had carried out the bridge’s beautification – including colouring and replacement of tiles with granite – in 2016. BMC had also appointed a private consultant for a structural audit of the bridge in 2017-18. The audit report declared that the bridge needed minor repairs.
However, the structure collapsed on March 14, 2019, and BMC’S engineering department was blamed for the mishap, and a chief engineer was jailed. Following this, BMC ordered the reaudit of hundreds of bridges in the city.