High Court allows demolition of 130-yr-old bridge

The Bombay High Court today paved the way for the demolition of the dilapidated Carnac Bunder Bridge in south Mumbai.

A division bench of Justices N H Patil and G S Kulkarni disposed of a petition filed by activist Kamlakar Shenoy, seeking to stop the demolition of the 130-year-old structure.

The petition claimed that there was no alternative bridge to cross from west to east near the Masjid Bunder Railway Station.

The high court, last month, had directed the Central Railways and the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) to place on record reports of an experts' committee set up to study the issue.

After going through the reports today, the judges held that demolition was necessary.

Railways' lawyer Suresh Kumar said the bridge will be reconstructed within 18 months. Accepting the statement, the court disposed of the petition.

The railways lawyer informed that a foot-over bridge, 130 metres away from the Carnac Bunder Bridge, can be used by pedestrians in the meantime.

The experts' committee had said the bridge was very old and dilapidated, and if it collapsed, it could cause a loss of human life and disrupt the train traffic.