Western Railway (WR) will be inspecting all road overbridges (ROB) in the Mumbai suburban section falling in their jurisdiction as a precautionary measure. Sources said in the aftermath of the Andheri bridge collapse, it was initially decided to inspect only seven cantilever bridges, but the scope was widened earlier this week.
Sanjay Mishra, Divisional Railway Manager (Mumbai), WR, said, “We will be conducting a thorough inspection of all 29 ROBs in the Mumbai suburban section. If we find any issue, we will immediately conduct necessary repairs.” Railway officials said they have formed two teams, and these inspections would be in addition to those conducted by a joint team of BMC, IIT-Bombay and WR officials. Despite the teams still being put together, WR wanted to conduct an inspection immediately, and the Mahalaxmi and Bandra ROBs was surveyed on Friday. Bridges located between between Mumbai Central and Matunga Road will be inspected on Sunday, officials said. A senior WR official said seven engineers have been appointed to the inspection team. The rest will comprise officials nominated by their departments.
Following the collapse of the pedestrian section of Gokhale Bridge in Andheri, Union Railway Minister Piyush Goyal had said a joint railway-BMC team led by professors from IIT-Bombay will inspect all 445 bridges in the Mumbai suburban section, including ROBs, pedestrian and pipeline bridges.
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