Mumbai: Juhu-Tara road bridge to reopen for public in January

Only a single lane of the Juhu-Tara road is open for both north and south-bound vehicles. File pic

Reconstruction work of two bridges, which had got stalled owing to the COVID-19 lockdown, is finally set to get back on track. The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation confirmed that the Juhu-Tara road bridge, which was being reconstructed after being dismantled last year, is likely to be completed and opened to traffic by January end. The civic body will also be spending Rs 18 crore on reconstructing the bridge that will passing over Oshiwara river at Jogeshwari SV Road.

Following the CSMT foot-over-bridge collapse on March 14, 2019, dilapidated bridges across the city were re-audited. Last year around seven bridges, which include the Juhu-Tara road bridge, were undertaken for reconstruction on design-build-transfer basis (contractor to suggest the design and build the bridge). While usually the contractors get around 18 months' time to construct a bridge but in this case the BMC had given them a maximum of six months to complete the work. The civic body had also mentioned that they would be fined if the work was not completed within the stipulated time. However, BMC sources said that the contractors would not have to pay the fine as work got delayed owing to the lockdown.

Further, officials said that work was started around November-December last year and some of it early this year owing to delay in getting permission from the traffic police. Currently, just one side of the Juhu-Tara road is open for traffic making a single lane available for both north and south-bound vehicles.

Also Read: Mumbai: Collapsed CST bridge to be rebuilt, will get escalator

However, work is yet to begin on the bridge over Oshiwara river as the proposal hasn't been tabled in the standing committee. The bridge is open only for light motor vehicles right now. An official said, "When we start work on the bridge, only one lane on each side of the road is likely to be open, as work will be done through the centre median. However, in case of the Juhu Tara bridge work was done on each of the sides first." Bridges department deputy chief engineer of western suburbs, Satish Thosar confirmed the development on Wednesday.

Rs 18 CR
Amount BMC will spend for reconstruction of the SV Road bridge

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