‘Many city bridges pose threat’

Mumbai: A day after a rail overbridge’s (ROB) pathway collapsed in Andheri, injuring five, corporators raised questions as to the dilapidated condition of several other bridges that are allegedly languishing away in the city.

The issue was also raised in the Brihan-mumbai Municipal Corp-oration (BMC) standing committee meeting on Wednesday, where corporators warned that the mishap at Andheri might be repeated at other places as civic body and railway officials are ‘turning a blind eye to the ‘pitiful’ condition of certain bridges. The corporators also said both civic and railway authorities ought to be held accountable.

Former mayor and senior Shiv Sena corporator Vishakha Raut said, “Bridges like Tilak bridge in Dadar and Elphinstone bridge are nearly 100 years old. Both are in a dilapidated condition and shake vigorously. But whenever a meeting is called to discuss their repair, civic officials are not willing to attend it.”

In addition to this, the Z bridge in Matunga, Vijaynagar bridge in Dadar and Dharavi bridge are also in poor condition. Despite this, the BMC and railway authorities are not trying to find an alternative to them, she said.

Milind Vaidya from Shiv Sena said that the foot overbridge at the Mahim Causeway is in a dangerous condition. “But no action has been taken yet to repair it. If a mishap takes place, public representatives will be held responsible, not the authorities concerned,” said Mr Vaidya.

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) group leader Manoj Kotak said that civic officials couldn’t throw their hands up in the air, citing the jurisdiction issue. “In the Andheri incident, the BMC had allowed laying of cables for utilities on the structure. The civic administration still has not given reasonable clarification on the issue,” he stated.