Andheri-Goregaon bridge stuck for 3 years to finally take off in August

Hindustan Times

10-07-2025

MUMBAI: Three years after an additional bridge between Andheri West and Goregaon West was given the go-ahead, work on it is yet to begin. Awaiting permission from the Bombay high court which rolled in this May, things can now pick up speed—except for a hindrance by way of 2,500 slum tenements coming in the way. The BMC is, however, prepared with a plan to tackle them, and get the bridge work started off in August. 'This bridge will be a game changer for short-distance travel between Andheri and Goregaon, as the New Link Road is perpetually congested,' said Dhaval Shah, co-founder of the Andheri Lokhandwala Oshiwara Citizens Association. (Photo by Satish Bate/ Hindustan Times) (Hindustan Times)
The ₹499.20-crore bridge, another cable-stayed bridge that the BMC is adding to its roster, will begin at the slum-populated Shahid Bhagat Singh Nagar in Goregaon West, go over the Goregaon creek at its banks and land at Masjid As Salam Chowk in Millat Nagar, Andheri West. Offering an alternative to the congested New Link Road, it is expected to improve connectivity between Andheri, Oshiwara, Lokhandwala and Goregaon.
After it was initially approved at the end of 2022 by the BMC, the bridge was in for the long haul. Passing as it did through multiple CRZ areas and No Developmental Zone (NDZ) areas due to the mangroves, marshy areas and creek present, a long list of permissions—from the Maharashtra Coastal Zone Management Authority (MCZMA), forest department and high court were awaited. Bids were invited from contractors simultaneously. While the contract cost is at ₹499.20 crore, the total projects cost, including overheads, is at ₹694 crore.
A few months on, in May 2023, the MCZMA gave its clearance, on condition that the CRZ Notification, 2019 was abided by. It further asked the BMC to construct the bridge on stilts to reduce the impact on the mangroves, with a warning that local fishermen activity and the flow of creek water not be impeded and solid waste not be dumped in the creek.
Due to a 2018 high court order mandating the court's prior permission to construction in mangrove and mangrove buffer zones, the BMC put in an application for HC permission in 2024, revealing that 31 mangroves would have to be felled, for which it would plant 444 mangroves as compensatory afforestation. In May 2025, when the court gave its assent, rationalising the bridge as being in the public interest. 'The project is a public utility project proposed for traffic management to smoothen the vehicular congestion and to improve direct connectivity of underdeveloped areas,' (Sic) it said.
'This bridge will be a game changer for short-distance travel between Andheri and Goregaon, as the New Link Road is perpetually congested,' said Dhaval Shah, co-founder of the Andheri Lokhandwala Oshiwara Citizens Association, who travels for 45 minutes from Lokhandwala to Goregaon daily for work. 'But its relevance depends entirely on when it does get built. If it takes ages to become reality, as it does appear, due to the slums in Bhagat Singh Nagar, the conditions may have completely changed by then. The planned Versova-Dahisar Link Road will also add connectivity between these areas, so this may not be in great demand then.' In response, a BMC official from the bridge department said that instead, the bridge would aid connectivity of the north coastal road to the surrounding area and help local connectivity.
The BMC is equipped with a plan for the slums.
Additional municipal commissioner Abhijeet Bangar, who visited the site on Wednesday, said, 'Excavation work on the Andheri West side will start around August. On the Goregaon side, where the slums remain to be cleared, there is an ongoing SRA project, and the developer has assured us that he will clear all the homes in the bridge's way in the next few months. All permissions are in, so we're hopeful that work will soon take off smoothly.'
Next bridge: Bridge from MDP Road over Ramchandra Nalla to Ryan International School, Malad-Marve Road in Malad.