Lower Parel's Delisle bridge demolition: Prepare yourselves for final shutdown

As if traffic in the city, and local train mega-block weren't vexing enough, the demolition of 98-year-old Delisle Bridge is set to make matters worse for the next few months. Come January, the Lower Parel east bridge will be brought down and dusted thereby affecting commuters, primarily those travelling by the Mumbai local.

The Western Railways (WR) is in talks with the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) and other state agencies to plan the block period for the demolition. Block period implies the time for which the station will be shut for the demolition meaning that people will have to plan their commute accordingly.

Even as the demolition is expected to take a block period of at least 16 to 18 hours, the engineering department — which is in charge of the demolition process, is asking for a 24-hour block period. The train services starting from Borivali and Virar is likely to be terminated at Dadar.

The authorities are looking at January 26 as the date for demolition considering that it is a weekend and thereby not many commuters will be affected. Around 37 lakh people commute through this route every day. Discussions about the same are underway within the WR departments as well.

Senior railway officials said, "We are planning the block such that the dismantling is complete and the least number of train services are not affected."

The WR has gradually been dismantling the bridge since August 20. The bridge was shut for vehicular traffic in July after IIT Bombay in its report declared it unsuitable for public use. Office-goers have particularly been affected since the shutdown. But, pedestrians have been allowed to use the bridge partly to ease congestion on the road below.

So far, the asphalt on the road has been removed, and metal barricades, beams above tracks are being slowly dismantled and the approach road is being dismantled too. This alone has cost nearly Rs 7.25 crore. "The bridge has a peculiar shape and dismantling has to be done slowly. We will be cutting the metal frame that forms the base of the bridge, into 54 pieces using gas cutters," a WR official said.

Demolishing this road overbridge (ROB) is a challenge as it curves 64 degrees over the tracks. The engineers are unsure which parts bear the maximum load and hence it has to be dealt with carefully. The reconstruction has been planned from March or so that will go on for at least 9-10 months. For this, the WR is in the final stages of fixing the design that will be best to be implemented within this short period.

BLOCKS ON TRACK

• The WR is in talks with the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) and other state agencies to plan the block period for the demolition 
   
• Block period implies the time for which the station will be shut for the demolition, meaning that people will have to plan their commute accordingly 
   
• Train services starting from Borivali and Virar may be terminated at Dadar during an estimated block period of 24 hours