Engineering failed in Gokhale Bridge, India’s first major ‘wrong’ construction, engineer committed suicide

The competition to take credit from the government and the failed engineering system has completely ruined the Gokhale Bridge in Andheri, Mumbai, which was built at a cost of about Rs 85 crore. This incident has put the credibility of the engineers of Railways and Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation in crisis.

For the first time, a crude mockery of the engineering system is being made in India. Social media users are asking two questions to the government by sharing the picture of the bridge. The first question is about crossing the bridge and the second question is about corruption.

It is being said that for the first time in India, such an overhead bridge has been constructed, which can be crossed only by jumping or flying. Interestingly, to hide their negligence and corruption, the two government departments related to the bridge are busy blaming each other.

Some people are comparing Mumbai’s Gokhale Bridge with Balochistan’s Khojak Tunnel. The reason is that the stories of both are almost similar.

First know the story of Khojak Tunnel
It is about the year 1889. The place was Baluchistan of British India. To avoid Russian attack, the British decided to build Khojak Railway Tunnel here. According to the available documents, the English engineers had set a target to build the tunnel within 3 years.

To accomplish this goal, engineers started excavation work from both sides. When the digging of the tunnel gained momentum, many workers lost their lives due to insecurity, but a new turn in the matter came at the end of the tunnel.

It is said that when the excavation of the tunnel was completed from both sides, a rumor spread that there was a huge difference in the excavation of both, due to which it is difficult to find its end.

When the engineers heard these things, they disappeared from there. According to Dawn’s report, the Chief Engineer committed suicide, taking responsibility for the entire incident, although after several efforts, the tunnel work was completed there in 1891. But if you read the story of Gokhale Bridge, you will see the deficiencies in today’s system and the competition for more credit, where the standards of morality resemble some extinct tradition.

What is the whole matter of Gokhale Bridge?
There is a place in Mumbai, Andheri, the population here is around 15 lakhs. Many railway lines pass around this Andheri. Gokhale Bridge was built in 1975 to cross these railway lines.

This bridge was working to connect many posh areas of Mumbai, due to which the connectivity of Andheri and surrounding people was very good, but in 2018, a part of it collapsed. Two people died due to the collapse of the bridge. At that time there was NDA government in the center and the state. As the controversy escalated, Mumbai Municipality talked about rebuilding this bridge.

The Maharashtra government has announced the opening of this bridge a few months before the 2024 elections, although the incomplete construction has pushed the government on the backfoot. The government which is on back foot is not able to say anything regarding Gokhale Bridge.

Understand the technical problem of Gokhale Bridge
The big question is that after construction, why are questions being raised on Gokhale Bridge? Let us understand it in detail-

Gokhale Bridge connects Andheri to the west and east. There is a flyover named CD Barfiwala near it, which directly connects many posh areas of Mumbai to Andheri. A part of the bridge was to be connected to the flyover, but it could not be connected. Due to the negligence of Mumbai Municipality, a 2 meter deep gap has formed between the bridge and the flyover.

Now those going to CD Barfiwala will have to take a detour across the bridge. Due to lack of alignment of flyover and bridge, people coming from Andheri, Juhu, Versova and Lokhandwala will face difficulties.

When there is a dispute, the Municipal Corporation says that there is a problem in the height of both the bridges, hence now it will have to be constructed afresh. Experts say that if an attempt is made to align the two, then Swami Vivekananda Marg and Juhu Marg will have to be completely closed, which will deepen the traffic jam problem in Mumbai.

Why did such a situation arise regarding Gokhale Bridge?
The main reason for this is said to be the lack of coordination between the Railways and the Municipality. The proposal given by BMC in November 2021 was rejected by the Railways. In this, there was a proposal to connect Barfiwala flyover to pillar number 5 of the railway. Railways said that this is not possible due to new rules and traffic. After this BMC gave a new proposal to Railways.

Under this proposal, the height of the railway bridge was approved at 8.5 meters. When the Municipal Corporation prepared this construction, it became much higher than the Barfiwala flyover. Corporation officials say that if both the bridges were connected in this situation, accidents would have occurred every day.

How much did the bridge cost and which officials were involved?
BMC had floated a tender worth about Rs 85 crore (including GST) for the construction of the bridge. The bridge was to be constructed with steel and concrete. BMC had decided to carry out this entire construction in 2 phases, so that the traffic is not disrupted.

According to the report of ABP Majha, big officers were deployed for this entire work. The BMC Commissioner himself was monitoring the entire matter.

According to the report, Mumbai Municipal Corporation Commissioner Iqbal Singh Chahal and Additional Commissioner P Velrasu represented the Municipal Corporation. Ulhas Mahale (retd), Deputy Commissioner (Infrastructure) of Greater Mumbai Municipal Corporation, Vivek Kalyankar, Chief Engineer (Bridges) were involved in this project.

Apart from this, Western Railway officials were also supervising the project. Infrabuilt Company got the work of building the bridge. Local BJP MLAs Amit Satam and Rutuja Latke were also involved. Many pictures of Satam while inspecting the site are going viral on social media.

What is the government’s stand in the Gokhale Bridge case?
In the Maharashtra government, the Urban Development Department is with Chief Minister Eknath Shinde. Presently Mumbai Municipal Corporation is also under them. After the entire episode, Shinde is the target of the opposition. However, CM Shinde has not said anything yet in the whole matter.

Even senior officials of the Municipal Corporation are refraining from speaking on this issue. Recently, while talking to the local media, Municipal Corporation’s Additional Commissioner P Velrasu has said that Rs 50 crore will be spent to demolish the Barfiwala bridge and connect it to the Gokhale bridge. The Municipal Corporation has also said that the help of engineers from Delhi and Chennai is being taken to fix the construction of the bridge.