Western Railway yet to finalise bridge contractor

Mumbai: Unless the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) pays money for the re-construction of the pathway of the Gokhale Bridge at Andheri station, which crashed on July 3 killing two, Western Railway (WR) may not finalise the contractor for the civil works.

Despite WR’s half-a-dozen letters to the BMC since 2016 for funds meant for maintenance of the Gokhale Bridge that was built in 1974, as well as a few other bridges, the latter did not release the money. The pathway has to be re-built by the WR and a tender has been floated but the contractor has not been finalised so far. Once the work begins, the pathway will take four months to be constructed, said a senior railway official.

Heavy repair works on Gokhale Bridge would be carried out during night blocks. Meanwhile, the pedestrians are bearing the brunt of the delay in the pathway’s construction.

When contacted, Sanjay Darade, chief engineer of Development Plan department, who is holding an additional charge of bridge department of the BMC said that he would need to check records before making any comment.

The WR has demanded '2,22,69,000 approximately from the civic body for heavy repairs of steel girder, pathway and de-launching of PSC of Andheri bridge. The BMC did not pay the amount to the WR; hence the latter has decided to finalise the contractor for the work.

A senior officer of WR, requesting anonymity, said, “Once the BMC deposits money to us, we will immediately finalise the contractor and in a week time, the work will begun.”     

The Asian Age had reported on August 6 that despite repeated reminders by the WR, the BMC is not paying '27 crore for different bridge related works on WR’s suburban section.

When asked Mr. Darade if the corporation has paid funds to WR for Gokhale bridge’s reconstruction, he said, “I will check the records tomorrow then I will let you know.”   

Since July 3, Gokhale bridges’ south-end portion had been closed down as it collapsed on the tracks owing to loads of the public utility cables. In this incident, two people were killed and three were injured.