5 injured as busy portion of Andheri ROB crashes down

Mumbai: At least five persons were injured on Tuesday morning after a part of the pedestrian pathway of Gokhale Bridge, a road overbridge (ROB) in Andheri (East), collapsed amid rains, bringing train services of the Western Railway to a halt for several hours. The ROB collapsed around 7.20 am with the debris crashing down upon the tracks below. Eyewitnesses say that a loud noise erupted due to the collapse after which a few persons were seen trapped in the debris.

The bridge collapsed near platform 8 at the station from where long distance trains pass regularly. The injured, four of whom were on the FOB, were rushed to Cooper Hospital, out of which two have been admitted to the ICU and out of which four have sustained fractures. The FOB connected platforms 8-9 where Andheri-bound local trains and long-distance trains terminate. The WR ran Virar-Goregaon and Chu-
rchgate-Bandra locals and later the Andheri-CSMT services were restored around 2.15 pm.

“There was a loud sound of the bridge crumbling down. By the time I stood up, a portion of the bridge had collapsed. I, along with others, went there and saw a few people trapped. There were some BMC workers who immediately informed the fire brigade and police,” said Mohammed Rafiq, a stall owner near the bridge.

The collapse affected all six overhead wires, disrupting the Western as well as Harbour line services from Goregaon to Bandra. “The tracks and the road above the bridge are the busiest, but thankfully there was a nakabandi. Thus, there were not many casualties,” said Hamid Khan, a BMC worker.

The portion, which was a footpath, had entirely collapsed and had covered the tracks,” said Hamid Khan, a BMC worker of the civic fumigation department, which is located under the bridge. A senior official of the WR, requesting anonymity, said that a private firm has allegedly laid down pipes containing public utility cables along the pathway of the ROB that could have led to the collapse. “The BMC did not take permission from us to lay down the cables. Despite the designation of footpath of that part of the road overbridge, the portion over the tracks belongs to us,” he alleged.    

The BMC started clearing debris, using JCBs, from the tracks and Harbour line services were restored at 2:15 pm.

The civic body constructed the bridge in 1975. The pedestrian pathway was constructed at least seven to eight years after the bridge was constructed. “We are not responsible for the maintenance of the railway side of the bridge. We grant money for repairs according to estimates every year,” said a senior civic official of the BMC's bridges department.

WR chief spokesman Ravinder Bhakar said that a pathway on the footpath portion of the BMC ROB  near Andheri station over the railway tracks collapsed at 7:30 am on Tuesday. All up and down suburban locals between Gore-gaon and Bandra stations were held up. He added, “Due to this, traffic of WR has been held up on all lines between Goregaon and Bandra stations, while local trains are running normally beyond Goregaon and between Bandra and Churchgate stations.”