Addl. municipal commissioner orders dept concerned to release funds; locals thank mid-day for highlighting issue; Central Railway (CR) stated last week that work on the FOB, which has been closed for over a year now, had been delayed as the BMC had not provided funds for the project
The under-construction foot overbridge at Mulund station. PIC/RAJENDRA B AKLEKAR
Citizen activists from Mulund on Monday visited the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) headquarters to meet the Additional Municipal Commissioner Abhijit Bangar to get work on a foot overbridge (FOB) in their area going and ensure pending funds were sanctioned on the spot. Following this, Bangar ordered the immediate payment of the pending funds for the FOB work.
Central Railway (CR) stated last week that work on the FOB, which has been closed for over a year now, had been delayed as the BMC had not provided funds for the project. The east-west connector was the sole municipal bridge at the station used by citizens. Pedestrians do not require tickets to cross such bridges over railway lines.
Mulund activists meet Additional Municipal Commissioner Abhijit Bangar (right) at the BMC headquarters on Monday. PIC/BY SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT
The work of the footbridge connecting Mulund East-West is being done by the Railways, and the money for it is paid by the municipal corporation. For the past several months, the work has been stalled due to non-payment of funds by the civic body.
“I had complained to Bangar via email in this regard. On Monday, I met him in person at the BMC headquarters, and he ordered the department concerned to immediately pay the money for the said work to the Railways and immediate action has been taken in this regard with assurances of resumption of pending work starting immediately,” advocate Sagar Devre, who has been following up the issue, said. “I also thank mid-day for consistently highlighting the issue,” he added.
A tale of two bridges
Two years ago, mid-day exposed how the 50-year-old pedestrian bridge had been corroded by rotting vegetables and fruits left behind by illegal hawkers and illegal alterations by a public toilet contractor. The bridge was then repaired, upgraded, and opened by the CR for six months in 2023. CR had assured that under a replacement plan, a new foot overbridge was to be constructed seven metres away from the old bridge towards the CSMT-end, and only after the commissioning of the new FOB for the public, the old one would be dismantled. But despite this, the repaired bridge was pulled down, leaving commuters without an alternative.
CR officials said that the Mumbai Railway Vikas Corporation had taken up the overall development of the station and added an elevated deck and multiple new bridges, which led to a change in the plan. “The east-west bridge is being built by the PMO’s Gati Shakti unit of CR’s Mumbai division and the BMC, and work on the foundation, column, and girder fabrication has been completed,” a CR spokesperson said.
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