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.

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.

Mumbai's lower parel bridge is shut from today for repairs!! No alternative arrangement for people!! As usual, common public suffers! With Ganesh festival around the corner, I wonder how much more bad the situation will get @MumbaiPolice pic.twitter.com/GIHdu8rCZ0

— paras pasad (@paraspasad) July 24, 2018

No intimation, no warning! Lower Parel Bridge shut and all traffic diverted to the High Street Phoenix & Elphinstone Bridge! Was stuck there for almost 45 mins! Not done. @RidlrMUM @MumbaiPolice

— Ritwika Gupta (@ritzdotcom) July 24, 2018

It is madness to shut down the Lower Parel Bridge.
Effectively one end of a main artetial road (as it is state of roads is bad in Mumbai) has been closed. It will crreate utter chaos.
Old bridges exist all over the world, they are repaired.@Dev_Fadnavis @AUThackeray

— sandip sabharwal (@sandipsabharwal) July 25, 2018

@RidlrMUM @MumbaiPolice @MumbaiLiveNews situation at lower Parel due to bridge repair at Delise Road. Need police personal here immediately to manage people walking below the bridges. Situation is really bad. pic.twitter.com/7mld1VZGnl

— Pratik Luharuka (@PratikLuharuka) July 24, 2018

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

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.

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.

NO ENTRY for all types of vehicles & Pedestrians on Delise Bridge-Parel ROB (Lower Parel Railway Bridge) tomorrow onwards, for bridge to be closed and dismantled in view of safety, as per recommendations by IIT Bombay , MCGM and Western Railway. Pls chk attached for diversions. pic.twitter.com/75dn3u8N9U

— Mumbai Police (@MumbaiPolice) July 23, 2018

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.