Carnac Bridge opening further delayed over Railways NOC

Indian Express

24-06-2025

The opening of Carnac bridge has been delayed as Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) is yet to receive clearance from the Central Railways. Civic officials said that since the bridge passes above railway tracks, it will need clearance from the Railways. The bridge's construction work concluded early this month and the BMC had initially set up a deadline of June 10 for the bridge to be opened. However, owing to a delay in the arrival of girders, civic authorities had to postpone the deadline. The revised deadline was set at June 23, but civic officials said that it will take some more days for the authorities to open it.
'The NOC from the Railways is expected to arrive in the next two days, following which the bridge will be opened. Last week we carried out a load test on the bridge, which was followed by a visit from VJTI experts and an inspection by the traffic department. After we get the clearance from the Railways, the bridge will be opened immediately,' said an official.
The old Carnac Bridge was a 154-year old structure that was pulled down by authorities in November 2022 after a structural audit declared the bridge to be unfit for daily usage and said it needed to be reconstructed. After the bridge was pulled down, construction of a new structure was immediately initiated by the authorities.
The new bridge runs between Masjid and CSMT stations in south Mumbai and provides direct connection to motorists travelling towards P'D Mello Road.
The new bridge is being built at a cost of Rs 60 crore and will be a superstructure made of steel that will be 70 metres long and 9.5 metres wide. It will have four vehicular lanes allowing for the smooth flow of traffic, compared to the two-lane traffic in the previous bridge. This means that the new bridge would hold double the traffic volume. Besides, the new bridge will be equipped with modern-day signage and lighting. Once operational, the Carnac Bridge is expected to decongest South Mumbai roads significantly.
Civic officials on Monday said the new Sion Bridge will be opened for traffic by May 31 next year. On Tuesday, a delegation of senior civic officials led by Abhijit Bangar – additional municipal commissioner (projects) — carried out a progress inspection for the ongoing bridge works.
In August last year, the 112-year old ROB was closed to road traffic in order to demolish and reconstruct it. The authorities had flagged multiple reasons that were necessary to pull down the entire century-old superstructure that passed above railway tracks. The primary reason being a structural audit finding out the girders of the bridge were in a dilapidated state.
While the bridge has remained closed for nearly eight months, the progress of work has been slow. The delay in work is attributed to several structures and utility linesm which included a toilet block and power cables that came in the way of the new superstructure. The cost of constructing this bridge is being pegged at Rs 50 crore.
On Tuesday, Bangar said demolition of the southern part of the main bridge will be started in September and at the same time, the demolition of the old bridge wall will also be carried out.
'The girders will be installed in the northern portion of the bridge by November and in the southern portion of the bridge, girders will be installed by January, 2026. Following this the work on the existing approach roads will be initiated and we are aiming to finish this work by March end, next year,' Bangar said.