MUMBAI: The demolition and reconstruction of Andheri’s Gokhale bridge could cost the BMC up to Rs90 crore.Following the part-collapse last year, the BMC had appointed a consultant to prepare estimates for the work, which have now been submitted to the civic body. While the initial estimate was Rs84 crore, civic officials said that the final cost may go up to Rs90 crore especially considering that systematic demolition of the bridge would be required before reconstruction.On July 3 last year, the pedestrian section of the bridge linking Andheri East and West had collapsed, leading to the death of two persons and injuries to three. At the time of the incident, BMC’s audit of 300-plus bridges in Mumbai was underway.The report revealed that Gokhale bridge required reconstruction as it was beyond repair. A civic official said, “As the bridge is several decades old, we decided to test it further, and a micro audit was undertaken as well. Here, stability of the structure was checked further. That report also pointed towards the need for reconstruction, therefore the consultant was appointed to prepare estimates accordingly. The report has been submitted and we are now finalizing it before tabling the reconstruction proposal before the authorities for final approval.” The BMC intends to start work on reconstruction of the bridge after monsoon . The BMC, however, has prepared a plan only for the portion of the bridge which falls under its jurisdiction. “The section of the bridge which falls under the railways’ jurisdiction would be needed to be checked by them. In fact, the portion of the bridge which crashed was not a part of the audited bridges,” an official said.The bridge is a key east-west connector in Andheri, connection SV Road to NS Phadke Marg. So in order to not disrupt traffic completely, the plan is to reconstruct the bridge in parts. “The new bridge would be a 3+3 lane one and have a carriageway of 10.5m on either side. In order to not cause much impact to traffic, we plan to undertake reconstruction in a phased manner,” the official added.

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