Residents of Parel and Worli oppose cable-stayed bridge

Residents of Parel and Worli are up in arms against the proposed cable-stayed bridge to replace the Elphinstone bridge that is being finalised by the railways, saying they are fed up with the constant construction and air-pollution in the area and another such mega project would mean a death knell for them. 

They have issued an ultimatum of 15 days to government agencies, including the BMC, MMRDA and railways, to conduct a public meeting and explain the project to them. 

“A lot of construction activity in the area has made our life miserable. The cable-stayed bridge is likely to affect residents along the stretch of the station and there will be re-locations of locals,” Nilkanth Naik, a resident and one of the activists who is mobilising residents, said. 

“We have written letters to all the concerned authorities and will meet them and explain our problems. It is the prime responsibility of the authorities to inform locals about such huge developments,” he added.

Residents said that an environment report on the large amount of suspended particulate matter in the air in Parel-Worli area due to consistent construction activity had also come out. 

Residents plan to start a campaign and put up boards and banners to oppose the project. Railway officials, however, said the alignment and even the width for the proposed bridge will remain the same as the previous one. 

“Since the approach road at the end of the bridge is not wide, we decided to have the same width for the new one. We are hoping that once the construction starts early next year, it will be completed by March 2012,” a Western Railway (WR) spokesperson said. 

WR and the BMC have planned to build a cable-stayed bridge at a cost Rs14 crore to replace the second oldest road over-bridge, Elphinstone or Karol Bridge, in Mumbai. 

According to WR officials, the total length of the two-lane bridge will be 100m, while the width will be 70m.

The new bridge will connect the Tata Mills Compound on one side and Parel ST Depot on the other. 

Elphinstone bridge was constructed in 1913 and it does not have adequate space beneath it for conversion from DC to AC power distribution system.

The new bridge will be higher. As the construction of a regular road over-bridge would have hampered local trains as well as vehicular traffic, WR has decided to opt for a cable-stayed bridge on the lines of the Bandra Worli Sea Link.