Mumbai: Audit first, says BMC on bridge handovers

JJ flyover, which is maintained by the MSRDC. File Pic/Rane Ashish

With an October audit revealing the poor state of 54 bridges under its care, the BMC is in no mood to take any chances with the handover of the overpasses by the state authorities. The BMC's Bridges department will soon write to the authorities concerned to submit the latest structural audit report of all the bridges that they will be transferring.

The state government has directed the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) and the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) to hand over all roads, including bridges, under their jurisdiction to the BMC for maintenance. Both the authorities currently maintain more than 25 bridges.

The BMC also wants the revenue that has been generated from these bridges. Additional Municipal Commissioner P Velrasu said, "I have instructed the officials to send a letter to the authorities concerned regarding structural audit and revenue power."

An official told mid-day, "The authorities get revenue from advertisements and the rent of the mobile towers installed on the flyovers under their jurisdiction. The BMC has a demand for this revenue. We are not aware how much revenue they earn, but if we are spending money on maintenance, then we need to earn revenue, too."

Recently, the MMRDA handed over the eastern and western express highways to the BMC. The state government ordered the transfer after BMC chief Iqbal Singh Chahal demanded that the roads under the jurisdiction of the state authorities be handed over to the BMC for better maintenance.

25
Approx no of bridges under MMRDA and MSRDC