WR, BMC agree to divide ROB work

At least six road overbridges are likely to be reconstructed or repaired by the BMC.

The suggestion to repair these bridges has been made by the Railways after vetting the safety audit reports of these structures.

All these bridges fall in the jurisdiction of the BMC but a portion in all these cases is being used by the Railways.

The message from WR to BMC is loud and empathetic: You repair bridges under your jurisdiction, we'll supervise the railway portion. It has also been decided that if the condition of any ROB or FOB is poor, then without a second thought, it will be closed to the public, said a WR official.

So, from Tuesday, the Delisle Bridge will be closed to all vehicular and pedestrian traffic.

The other five structures which need reconstruction are the Frere overbridge at Grant Road, Belasis overbridge at Mumbai Central, Tilak overbridge at Dadar, Carol overbridge at Prabhadevi and the one at Mahalaxmi.

The steps were initiated after the Gokhale overbridge in Andheri collapsed on July 3, killing one and injuring four.

After the mishap, Railways began a safety audit of all ROBs with the help of experts from the BMC and IIT-Bombay.

There are 145 FOBs and 29 ROBs under the jurisdiction of the BMC, the MMRDA and the PWD, which fall in the (WR) corridor. A detailed inspection of these bridges is underway.

Soon after the July 3 bridge collapse, Union Railway Minister Piyush Goyal had ordered a safety audit of nearly 450 ROBs, foot overbridges (FOBs) and bridges over pipelines in Mumbai.