Northern Section Of Barfiwala Bridge in Andheri To Open by June End

The northern part of the Barfiwala Bridge in Andheri is set to open for traffic by the end of June as its alignment with the Gopal Krishna Gokhale Bridge nears completion. According to a senior official from the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), the remaining work involves casting and curating.The disparity between the Gopal Krishna Gokhale Bridge and Barfiwala Bridge, previously around 1,300 mm, has been significantly reduced to just 100 mm as of last week. "We anticipate completing the remaining alignment and proceeding with the casting work," stated Abhijit Bangar, additional commissioner of projects.

The anticipated completion date for the entire bridge has been extended to Nov. 15. "The contractor has been granted an extension of five and a half months, with a penalty of Rs 3 crore imposed for the delay," added Bangar, emphasizing that the entire bridge will be open for traffic by March 31, 2025.Earlier, the northern section of the Gopal Krishna Gokhale Bridge was opened for traffic on Feb. 26. The launching of girders for the second phase of the bridge was scheduled for completion by May 31. However, delays in the arrival of girder components from Ambala, Haryana, have occurred. Consequently, civic authorities have issued a notice to the contractor seeking clarification regarding the delay.

As per a senior civic official, the girder launching and overall completion of work, including surfacing the railway portion on the southern segment of Andheri's Gopal Krishna Gokhale Bridge, have been postponed to Nov. 15."We have approved a delay of 107 days, which was deemed justifiable. However, the contractor will face penalties for the unjustified delay of 59 days, as per the tender document conditions," explained Bangar. The closure of the Gokhale Bridge since November 2022 due to safety concerns has inconvenienced commuters in Andheri. Even with the opening of the northern segment after 15 months, commuters still faced challenges due to the height disparity of nearly two meters between the Gokhale and CD Barfiwala flyover. The BMC has undertaken alignment work after consulting Veermata Jijabai Technological Institute and the Indian Institute of Technology, with completion expected next month.