04 November,2023 01:50 AM IST | Mumbai | Rajendra B. Aklekar
Work on the elevated deck that is 12 metres wide and 75 metres long
The much-awaited news of the upgrade of Ghatkopar station, which is a common point for Metro and suburban train commuters, is finally in and the new deck bridge will be open to commuters in a month on Christmas Day. mid-day had highlighted the issue in a front-page report in its August 30, 2019, edition.
Work has been on throughout the monsoon season and the phase one deck will be completed soon.
"The construction activities of the middle FOB and all staircases are on a war footing, which is planned for commissioning to commuters by December 25 this year, with staircases initially while escalators will be operative in a phased manner," MRVC spokesperson Sunil Udasi said.
The total cost of the work is Rs 18 crore.
Highlighted by mid-day, and taken up by local Member of Parliament Manoj Kotak and promised by former railway minister Piyush Goyal, Ghatkopar station upgrade is finally nearing completion. Phase one of the upgrade with elevated decks should be ready by Christmas 2023.
"The elevated deck is 12metres wide and 75 metres long. Escalators shall be provided on platform No.2/3, PF No.4 on CSMT side of FOB & east side. A parallel deck of 15.0 m wide, 47 m long east deck is also under construction," he said.
"This FOB will ease crowding on the existing metro FOB and passengers can move from one platform to the other and outside with ease," he added.
Ghatkopar has been an important junction station since it sees a large footfall due to integration of the Mumbai Metro Line 1 at the same station.
mid-day's August 30, 2019, report 'Next Disaster Arriving on Platform No.1' had highlighted how Ghatkopar station had become a death trap. Following this, local Member of Parliament from northeast Mumbai Manoj Kotak had followed up the issue with the then railway minister Piyush Goyal. Goyal at a public function on September 13, 2019, had directed railway officials to come up with an elaborate plan and upgrade the station. The work is being done by Mumbai Railway Vikas Corporation (MRVC).
A crucial aspect of the mega road bridge constructed at Vidyavihar will be ready this weekend. The work of placing the longest steel girder of 99.34-metres over and across ten railway lines is finally in shape. The girder will be pushed over the rail lines on Saturday night.
The Central Railway has taken a block and announced that there will be no traffic on all lines for 3 hours and 10 minutes between 1.10 am to 4:20 am. One girder of similar size has already been placed for up direction traffic in May 2023 and this is the second girder for down side traffic. Once both the girders are placed, work on approaches will continue and is expected to be completed by May 2024. The total length of the bridge, being built for east-west connectivity, is about 480 metres. According to the records, this connectivity was marked in the 1991 development plan of the BMC. The civic body prepared a plan for the bridge in 2016 and the construction work started in 2018.
