15 July,2025 08:52 AM IST | Mumbai | The Editorial
Sindoor Bridge opened to the public on July 10.
Reports have started filtering in about relief at the opening of the Sindoor flyover, which replaces the 150-year-old Carnac bridge, and how it has cut down commuting time.
The decision to rename the bridge after Operation Sindoor was made following India's military strikes on terror camps in Pakistan in response to the Pahalgam terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir. The flyover is located near Masjid Bunder railway station and connects to P D'Mello Road, re-establishing a critical east-west connection in South Mumbai. The Carnac bridge was dismantled in August 2022 after being declared unsafe by Central Railway.
Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, who recently inaugurated the structure, had claimed that James Rivett-Carnac, the 19th century governor of the erstwhile Bombay Presidency, after whom the old bridge was named, had facilitated several atrocities against Indians, adding a black chapter in our history that needed to be erased. Accordingly, the bridge's name has been changed to honour the bravery of the Indian Army.
One salutes the army, and it is good to have this bridge/flyover named after those who defend us. Yet, the biggest tribute will come when this quality of the new bridge is proven. It should stand the test of time, and this will be the real salute to our soldiers. We are also thankful that the construction of the bridge was not accompanied by the usual, extremely irksome shouting about who it should be named after.
While political parties clamour for infrastructure to be named after their leaders, this edit space has suggested that facilities should be named after defence heroes. Let this put an end to those endless and inane naming disputes that occur before most infrastructure inaugurations.
