Ghatkopar bridge end-2025 deadline postponed to June 2027
MUMBAI: In the hope of easing the traffic logjam in the eastern suburbs, yet another British-era bridge—the busy Ghatkopar rail over bridge (ROB)—is set to bite the dust and get replaced by a new, wider overpass. But with its initial deadline of end-2025 being forwarded to a distant June 2027, commuters are riding their hopes on the east-west crossing bridge being built at the adjacent stations of Vidyavihar and Vikhroli. Mumbai, India. May 07, 2025: General view of the under-construction Ghatkopar bridge. The bridge connects Western Express Highway and Lal Bahadur Shastri Marg (LBS Road) in Mumbai, India. May 07, 2025. (Photo by Raju Shinde/HT Photo) (Hindustan Times)
The 78-year-old Ghatkopar ROB came under the BMC's scrutiny after the Gokhale Bridge mishap, prompting structural audits of bridges all over Mumbai by IIT-Bombay in 2018. On finding it overloaded and in need of major repairs, the work on its reconstruction was given to the Maharashtra Rail Infrastructure Development Corporation (MRIDC) funded by the BMC.
'The bridge starts from the Golibar Road junction near LBS Marg on the Andheri-Ghatkopar Link Road till the Eastern Express Highway (EEH), connecting Ghatkopar East to Ghatkopar West,' said an official from MRIDC. 'The portion over the railway tracks will be a cable-stayed bridge while the portion over LBS Road will be a bowstring steel span. This is so that long spans of the bridge can be constructed without pillars adding to the traffic congestion on the road below. The bridge will also crisscross with two metro lines and the bullet train.'
With work orders given in 2022, the work is inching ahead at a snail's pace. The old bridge, with its 2+2 lanes, has been allowed to continue to function after maintenance although heavy vehicles have been restricted on it.
This, however, has been causing issues. 'BEST buses have to take a long turn right from Amar Mahal, as they can't ply on the old bridge, and heavy vehicles that are headed to Sakinaka also face this issue,' said Ajay Bagal, a resident who has long been campaigning for a new Ghatkopar ROB.
The old bridge will be demolished as the right-hand lanes of the new bridge near completion in around a year, allowing for some traffic movement to continue. 'Traffic will be diverted onto the right-hand lanes, and then we will take up work on the left side,' said the MRIDC official.
While work on the railway portion is on, it is the approach roads where the issue lies, as there are encroachments crowding the alignments. MRIDC acknowledged this, saying it was the BMC's responsibility to remove the encroachments.
'There are shops and a recently constructed SRA building in the way of the west-side approach road, which is delaying the work,' said Bagal. 'By now, the work on the bridge should have been almost complete, but it isn't. The other bridges coming up at Vikhroli and Vidyavihar will surely reduce the load on this one, but this bridge offers a straight road up to Sakinaka and the international airport, and is in one of the most congested areas, so it is of utmost importance.'
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