The Versova-Yari road bridge – one of suburban Mumbai’s much-awaited infrastructure projects is set to see the light of day in December 2027, 25 years after it was conceptualized.

The 206-meter-long bridge is set to connect Lokhandwala with Andheri back road, passing over the Kavthe creek at Andheri West. At present, there is no direct connectivity between these two places, and the travel time between these two places takes 30 minutes. Meanwhile, once operational, the travel time is set to drop below 10 mins.

Earlier on Monday, a team of Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) officials led by Abhijit Bangar — additional municipal commissioner (Projects) carried out a site inspection. Following this, the private agency executing the work was told to complete the work by December next year.

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The bridge will be Y-shaped, while the main structure will feature a 110-metre-long single-span steel “basket handle arch” structure

“At present the work of erecting the pillars and columns is underway. The bridge will pass above the creek establishing a direct east-west connection between Yari Road, Panch Marg and Versova in Andheri West,” an official told the .

The bridge will be Y-shaped, while the main structure will feature a 110-metre-long single-span steel “basket handle arch” structure. Tension rods will connect the steel arch to the bridge deck slab. The cost of this bridge has been pegged at Rs 48 crore. Initially the cost of this project was pegged at round Rs 16 crore. However, with the delay, the project saw a massive cost escalation.

In 2019, members from a local housing society filed a petition with the Supreme Court stating that this project would affect mangroves; therefore, it needs to be scrapped. They have also stated that the proposed alignment of this bridge was flawed.

Later in August 2022, the SC quashed the stay. Following this, the project came back on track. Civic officials said that they had to acquire a slew of permissions from the forest and mangrove departments before they could go ahead with the work. As a result, the issuance of permission took more than three years, and the work could have begun last year.