Mumbai: BMC misses Andheri’s Gokhale bridge deadline again

The second girder of Gokhale bridge had only been partially lowered when mid-day arrived at the scene on Saturday. Pic/Anurag Ahire

While the second girder of Andheri's Gokhale bridge has been lowered to a large extent, the task remained incomplete on Saturday, which was the revised deadline. According to the BMC, out of 6.8 metres, 5.5 metres of lowering was done as of Saturday morning, and the rest will be completed by Monday morning.

After missing the first deadline of November 14 to lower the second girder, the BMC had set a new deadline of November 30. But when mid-day arrived at the scene on Saturday, the girder still needed to be lowered about another 1.5 metres.

The girder, launched from the East side of Andheri station to the West side, was to be lowered to 7.5 metres to match the height of the first girder. But the lowering hadn't even begun till November 14, which was the original deadline. It was after mid-day reported on the delay that work began.

"On Friday night, 900 millimetres lowering was completed and the remaining 1.375 mm to be done for bearing placing. It is likely to be completed on Saturday and Sunday night," said a civic official, adding that the girder's final placement would be complete by Monday.

The BMC has set a deadline of April 2025 for the completion of the entire bridge work, along with asphalting of second girder and approach roads on both sides. "The bridge will be ready before monsoon," said a BMC official.