Bellasis ROB to shut down for 18 mths
The 131-year-old Bellasis Rail Over Bridge (ROB) at Mumbai Central will be closed for 18 months, beginning June 24. In the coming months, the railway portion of the bridge will be demolished and rebuilt by the Western Railway and the approaches will be rebuilt by the BMC. This crucial ROB connects Vasantrao Naik Chowk in the west to Dr Anandrao Nair Marg in the east.
Railway officials have said that the ROB’s closure will block connectivity to the main booking office of Mumbai Central railway station from the west. Therefore, a temporary lightweight foot over bridge (FOB) with an escalator will be built to the north side of Bellasis ROB. This temporary FOB will be the first of its kind in the Mumbai suburban area, expected to be complete by the end of July. Until this new FOB is ready, the north side footpath of the ROB will be kept open for pedestrians only.
As an alternative to the ROB, the Mumbai traffic police have announced a new vehicular diversion – from Mumbai Central Junction, via DB Marg Navjeevan Junction, to Diana Bridge, which ends up at the Tardeo Circle Junction. Motorists from the Tardeo Circle Junction can use the same route using Diana Bridge Navjivan Junction and turn left to Dr DB Marg towards Mumbai Central.
Special traffic instructions include no parking or halting on either side of Diana Bridge, which is also called Pathe Bapurao Road. Similar rules apply on S Swaraj Chowk (Navjeevan Junction) as well, the notification by Pradnya Jedge, Deputy Commissioner of Police (traffic, south) said.
The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay, in its report in March, said that the bridge needs to be dismantled and rebuilt. “The traffic over the bridge should be closed with immediate effect and the bridge reconstructed on an urgent basis,” the report had advised. In May, the railway authorities installed height barricades at both ends of the bridge to prevent heavy vehicles from entering it.