After four years and two weeks, the Himalaya foot over bridge (FoB) at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT) is finally ready and all set to reopen for the public use from today, March 30.
However, only one staircase will be operational now of the new stainless steel pedestrian bridge as a final nod is awaited, said Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) officials.
"The construction work is completed. We need a structural stability report before opening it to the public. The inspection has been done and we are expecting a report within 4 to 5 days. Simultaneously, a file has been put up for permission from the civic chief to open the bridge," said another official from the BMC.
Meanwhile, on another exit of FOB, provision for an escalator has been made on and it will be placed after six months. The escalator may be installed by June or July.
Since it had missed several deadlines and it was unable to shut the arterial D N Road for long hours, work had to be carried out in breaks, from midnight till 5 am to complete the work by March as assured by officials two months ago.
The civic body earlier decided to put an escalator on the side of the footpath, but the idea was dropped later on and the tender was floated without an escalator. However, the BMC later decided to install an escalator from the internal road and issued a work order in this regard. It will take time as it is being constructed in the factory. Once it is made, it won’t take many days to install it.
A senior BMC official said there will be no inauguration ceremony for the new FOB. Earlier too, the revamped BMC headquarters building, located a few metres ahead of the FOB, had been opened without any fanfare.
The new FOB has been made of stainless steel to ensure that the sea breeze does not corrode the structure, said civic officials.
The old pedestrian bridge was made of mild steel and found to be corroded at certain spots.
After the Himalaya FOB crashed on March 14, 2019, a temporary traffic signal was set up at the spot for pedestrian crossing. A civic survey had found that around 25,000 people used the signal daily, mostly to enter or exit CSMT.
The bridge tender was floated and work order issued in 2021. The nearly INR 6.4 crores FOB proposal was cleared by the civic standing committee in May 2021, and actual work started two months later.
Share
Tweet
