Mumbai: The cost of reconstructing Hancock Bridge, close to the Sandhurst Street Station, will cost BMC RS 11 Crore more than the previous RS 75 Crore, according to the minutes of the meeting accessed by TOI.
To overcome additional costs, BMC plans to invite fresh tenders for extra work that needs to be done.
When the British era bridge was destroyed in 2016, the reconstruction costs were pegged around RS 50 Crore which rose by Rs 25 Crore.
TimesViewRecontruction Hancock Bridge has been delayed since the tender for the job floating in May 2016 and the winning company was found under police investigation in BMC fraud.
The High Court ordered the tender to be removed and the BMC administration was forced to return to the drawing board.
Finally, in 2018, the BMC stand committee cleaned the proposal to reconstruct the bridge.
However, work has been running at the speed of the snail.
This issue has reached the Union Minister Piyush Goyush, who in a letter to the Minister of Devendra Fadnivis in August 2018, has said that even though there is a central permit, the bridge reconstruction has not yet begun.
BMC must now ensure that the new bridge is immediately ready.
At the meeting held in November, the head of the engineer (bridge) stated that the scope of work on the bridge increased due to the addition of three bridges to provide the right access to adjacent properties and it would increase costs by Rs 11 Crore.
However, the BMC Chief Engineer (Bridge) Satish Thosar told the Toi that the cost would not rise.
“There is no revision in the contract to be carried out.
The extra work proposed beyond the contract costs will be carried out later by inviting separate tenders,” he said, adding that one path on both sides may be open to traffic in April.
However, Kamarakar activist R Shenoy said the cost of bridges had increased due to the delay in the construction at the right time.
“I have a document that states that in 2012 the cost is Rs 14 Crore who rises to Rs 50 Crore …,” Shenoy said.
MLA & Corporator Rais Shaikh said shops near the bridge had suffered because BMC dragged his feet.
Mla Amin Patel of Congress said the bridge could not be discarded even until June.