Private consultants to audit bridge

Mumbai: The collapse of the bridge outside CSMT came as a surprise to many as it seemed sturdy and was not found to be dangerous by an audit team of the BMC.

The BMC has now appointed private consultants to audit the rest of the structure. After the audit report, the BMC will decide if the entire bridge should be demolished or if is in a repairable condition.

However, the bridge will remain shut until the consultants’ report comes and the road divider outside CSMT has been removed for pedestrians to cross the road until then.

Senior BMC officials, including additional municipal commissioner Vijay Singhal and deputy municipal commissioner Harshad Kale, inspected the spot late Thursday night.

Mr Kale said, “A structural audit was carried in 2016, which suggests some repairs were done including that of the stairs and the use of antierosion paint. The bridge was fit for usage and it is unfortunate that it collapsed.”     

He added, “Due to the sudden collapse, we have appointed three private consultants and structural engineers are carrying out an inspection. It will take a few days for their report, which will decide if the entire bridge needs to be demolished. We will have to build a new bridge. However, this procedure will take time and till then we have removed part of the divider outside CST.”