125-year-old Elphinstone bridge to be demolished in last week of February

Mumbai: Motorists visiting the central Mumbai area of Parel should brace themselves for severe congestion starting next month, as the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) is planning to demolish the nearly 125-year-old Elphinstone Road Over Bridge. The demolition is likely to begin in the last week of February.

The demolition of the British-era bridge, a crucial east-west connector that passes over railway tracks near the Prabhadevi and Parel stations, is necessary for two purposes: to raise its height and width and to construct the Sewri-Worli connector, which will pass over it. When both projects are completed, there will be a double-decker bridge over the railway tracks, Mumbai’s second such structure after the Santacruz-Chembur Link Road.

The 4.5-km-long Sewri-Worli connector will be a signal-free bridge between the Bandra-Worli Sea Link and the Mumbai Trans Harbour Link, also known as Atal Setu. It will snake through some of the most congested localities of central Mumbai at a height of 27 metres and cross over railway lines in Sewri, Parel, and Prabhadevi, the monorail line, the Parel flyover on the Eastern Express Highway and the Elphinstone flyover on Senapati Bapat Marg.

It is estimated that 15% of Atal Setu’s vehicular traffic will use the connector. Once complete, the connector is expected to cut down the commuting time from Sewri to Worli from the current 40-60 minutes to less than 10 minutes. The connector will have four lanes, two on either side of the carriageway. The deadline for its completion is early 2026.

“Construction for the connector has been progressing well,” said Sanjay Mukherjee, metropolitan commissioner at the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA). “We had a meeting with the Mumbai Traffic Police in December and we also spoke on Tuesday on the subject.”

There is no clarity on the deadline for the demolition and reconstruction of the Elphinstone bridge as a tender is yet to be floated. It took five years (2018-2023) for the authorities to demolish, reconstruct and reopen the Delisle Road bridge crossing over the Lower Parel railway station.

Anil Kumbhare, joint commissioner of the Mumbai traffic police, confirmed to Hindustan Times that the MMRDA has sought permission to close the Elphinstone bridge. “We will shortly issue a No Objection Certificate for the closure,” he said.

The demolition would also affect operations at the Prabhadevi station, which has two exits on the bridge. “The main repercussion would be on the booking offices, which we will shift to either side of the station premises,” said a Western Railway official. “There would be minor issues with the train operations. We will provide traffic blocks whenever it is required for demolition and reconstruction of this bridge.” The official confirmed that the demolition work is likely to begin in the last week of February.

On Wednesday, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader and Worli MLA Aaditya Thackeray had met MMRDA commissioner Mukherjee to request a postponement of the road over bridge’s demolition to April “so as to not cause inconvenience to thousands of students appearing for board exams”. In a post on X, Thackeray said he also asked the MMRDA “to speed up the handover of the proposed shortcut to Pandurang Budhkar Marg that goes below the Worli-Sewri Connector.”