Plans in place for demolishing British-era Elphinstone ROB over 3 months

MUMBAI: The railways on Thursday discussed alternative routes and ticket counters for the time when the Elphinstone Road over bridge (ROB) shuts down for vehicular traffic and pedestrians. The Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA), meanwhile, has come out with a brief timeline, spread over three months, for dismantling this British-era ROB.

The discussion came a day after the Mumbai traffic police announced that there would be diversions from the night of April 25 for motorists taking this ROB. Signboards were pasted on the approach roads to the ROB, asking motorists to take a detour via Chinchpokli and Lower Parel. Preparatory works are underway at the site, where bright halogen lamps have been placed.

At present, there is a staircase from the ROB that leads to Platforms 1 and 2 of Prabhadevi station. There is also a small concourse with ticket windows and ATVMs before the stairs. “We will duly inform the public about the alternative entry/exit points before we finalise the date for closing access to the footpath on this ROB, used by commuters to enter Prabhadevi railway station,” said a WR official.

The project is part of a larger whole—MMRDA’s Sewri-Worli Elevated Connector. There will thus be a double-decker ROB—the upper deck being a seamless, signal-free road which is part of the connector—while the lower level will be the new Elphinstone ROB.

Sources said that ‘way leave charges’ of around ₹60 crore needed to be paid to the railways for allowing the Maharashtra Rail Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited to carry out this work. “Paying way leave charges is just a small part of this process, which will be done soon,” said an official who is part of this project.

Meanwhile, MMRDA has prepared broad plans for the dismantling of the ROB, which will begin once the latter is shut for public use. According to the dismantling schedule, the work will take around 20 days and will be carried out in phases until July 10 depending on the availability of railway traffic blocks.

“The dismantling of the approach roads to the ROB, other than the railway portion, is proposed to be completed by May 30,” said an MMRDA official. “For removing the steel girders above the railway portion, we will require cranes with a capacity of 800 MT, with a standby crane of 500 MT capacity.” The engineers will use poclain machines and dumpers to collect 16,316 cubic metres of solid debris.

(With inputs from Ateeq Shaikh)