Lower Parel Bridge Closed, Commuters Face Stampede-Like Situation

Railways & MCGM rush to rebuild Lower Parel bridge as commuters are forced to brave narrow lanes outside station.

Commuters walk along narrow lane of Datta Ahire Marg.

(Photo courtesy: Twitter)

On the morning of 24 July, when thousands of commuters thronged out of Lower Parel station, the view brought back memories of the Elphinstone Road stampede in September last year. A sea of pedestrians could be seen trying to navigate their way along the narrow lane of Datta Ahire Marg as the overhead Delisle bridge was shut for repairs.

The Delisle bridge which is crucial as it connects NM Joshi Marg to Elphinstone Road and Lower Parel, which are business hubs of Mumbai, was declared unsafe on 17 July. Angry Mumbaikars took to social media to highlight the danger that the situation posed.

Security officials from RPF and GRP have been deputed at Lower Parel station for crowd management.

A notification by Western Railways about the alternative arrangements.(Photo courtesy: Twitter/Western Railway

Meetings are already taking place. The structure is owned by MCGM and we have already written to them.

Ravinder Bhakar, Spokesperson, Western Railway 

A senior official in Western Railway said the issue would be tackled on a war footing and the bride could be built in almost a year’s time, depending on the timing stipulated by the MCGM.

Who Declared the Delisle Bridge Unsafe?

Built in 1921, the Delisle bridge is about 62.72 metres long and over 23.2 metres wide. The bridge was declared unsafe after a joint inspection by a team of Western Railway officials, BMC officials and experts from IIT-Bombay.

The empty Delisle bridge after it was cordoned off. (Photo courtesy: The Quint/Gautam Sharma)

According to the preliminary report given to Western Railways, the cross girders of the road over bridge are reportedly ‘highly corroded and need to be replaced’. This prompted the Railways to shut down the bridge for vehicles and pedestrians right away as they work out a solution to have the bridge rebuilt at the earliest.

The move to inspect the Delisle bridge came just weeks after the Gokhale road over bridge that connected Andheri East to West collapsed, killing one pedestrian. Just days after that, another bridge running over railway tracks on Grant Road developed cracks and had to be shut down.

Out of a total 29 road over bridges that are to be inspected in the western suburban section, eight have been inspected so far. Five bridges out of these need reconstruction and repair. These include the Belasis ROB at Mumbai Central, Ferere ROB at Grant Road, Tilak ROB at Dadar, Carol ROB at Prabhadevi and the ROB at Mahalakshmi.