Even though the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) cancelled plans to construct the second arm of the Bandra flyover due to financial issues, the agency is reportedly going to build a skywalk that will connect the east side of Borivali to the Metro station located at the Western Express Highway (WEH).
This skywalk will be built at a cost of INR 91 crores, officials said. This decision has drawn the ire of civic corporators given that the BMC has previously cited a cash crunch.
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The designing and the tender process of this skywalk started in 2019. Though the cost of this project was originally estimated to be around INR 70 crores, officials said that the lowest bidder quoted INR 64 crores, which has since seen the inclusion of 10 per cent alteration cost, INR 25 lakhs for transfer of utilities, water, sewerage taxes, among other surcharges which has seen the cost rise to INR 91.31 crores.
Civic officials believe that the aesthetic value of the skywalk also increases its production cost. “Considering an upgraded Borivli station and the Metro station, we designed it keeping the aesthetic value of the area in mind. It will have escalators, too,” an official from the Bridges Department said.
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BJP corporator from the region, Vidyarthi Singh, said, “Earlier the design was different and many shops would have been demolished for the construction. Now the BMC has changed the design. While the skywalk is necessary as it connects the Metro to the railway station, it is way too expensive.”
The completion deadline for this project has been set at three years from the date of receiving the contract and includes the monsoon months. It’s worth pointing out that the construction of the Bandra skywalk would have only taken around INR 50 crores as per estimates and was expected to have both its arms reaching Kalanagar and Bandra court.
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