The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) recently completed the reconstruction of the Belasis bridge near Mumbai Central Railway Station, four months ahead of the scheduled deadline, in just 15 months. Now, it has been thrown open to public, bringing a relief to the commuters. However, the bridge has now been renamed after the virtuous Ahilyadevi Holkar.
Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis made this announcement while formally inaugurating the 130-year-old structure on Thursday, February 26, through an online ceremony.
CM Fadnavis said that Ahilyadevi Holkar remains an example of ideal governance. He highlighted her administrative skills, commitment to public welfare, law and order, and her work in building temples, ghats and promoting small industries.
He said naming the bridge after her would be a matter of pride and would inspire both the state government and the civic body to continue working with dedication.
On the new name, Fadnavis said, “Punyashlok Ahilyamata has created an ideal of how an excellent administrator should be in this country. With her sensitivity, piety, efficient people-centric governance, grip over law and order, the temples she built and the first batch of women, the factories and small industries she built, and the ghats, Rajmata Ahilyadevi Holkar has set an example before us."
As per the report, the proposal was put forward by local MLA and state minister Mangal Prabhat Lodha. Among the names he had suggested earlier were Jagannath ‘Nana’ Shankarseth and Lata Mangeshkar before the final decision was taken.
For decades, the bridge carried the name of Major General John Bellasis, who had commissioned the original connection in 1793. It linked the Mahim Causeway to Malabar Hill. With the reopening, the civic body chose to move away from its colonial association.