A section of Gokhale Bridge in Andheri, will be opened to commuters on Sunday, providing some relief from the traffic snarls.
A portion of the pedestrian section of the road overbridge had collapsed on Tuesday, causing authorities to close it to traffic. Western Railway (WR) will now allow light vehicular traffic on the northern section — usually used for east-bound traffic from S.V. Road to Western Express Highway. “One lane will be reserved for each direction. We are considering installing a movable divider to adapt to changing traffic needs through the day,” Deputy Commissioner of Police (Traffic, Suburb) Sanjay Jadhav said.
Repairs to girder
The southern section of the bridge will remain closed for at least a week as the Railways needs to carry out repairs to the main girder. Mukul Jain, Divisional Railway Manager (in charge), Western Railway, said, “We spotted kinks in one of the girders on the southern section during the joint inspection. We will open the other lane after the necessary repairs.”
Officials of WR, Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation and a team of the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay, inspected the bridge on Friday.
The pedestrian section of the bridge, meanwhile, will continue to remain shut. Even as the collapse is being investigated, officials suspect corrosion and heavy utility cables were the triggers for the collapse. Railways, sources said, has asked BMC to remove the paver blocks and utility cables within 10 days.
COMMents
SHARE