Army-Built Elphinstone Foot Overbridge Opens Months After Stampede

The three new foot overbridges were constructed by the Bombay Sappers army engineers in a record 117 days.

Five months after 23 people died in a stampede at suburban Elphinstone Road railway station, a new foot overbridge (FOB) constructed by the army opened for the public on 27 February.

(Photo Courtesy: Twitter/@RailMinIndia)

Five months after 23 people died in a stampede at suburban Elphinstone Road railway station, a new foot overbridge (FOB) constructed by the army was thrown open to the public on 27 February in Mumbai, PTI reported.

Two FOBs at Currey Road and Ambivli stations on Mumbai’s Central line were also inaugurated in presence of Railway Minister Piyush Goyal, Minister of State for Defence Subhash Bhamre, and Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis.

Railway Minister Piyush Goyal and Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis during dedication of foot overbridges (FOBs), built by the Indian Army in Mumbai. 

The new Elphinstone Road FOB, spanning over the Central and Western Railway tracks, connects Central Railway's Parel station on the east side and Phoolwali lane outside the Elphinstone Road station on the west side.

The bridge at Elphinstone Road station is 70-metre-long. The FOB at Currey Road station is 30 metres in length and the one in Ambivli is 20-metre-long.

In an unprecedented move, the construction of the FOBs was handed over to the army after 23 people died in a stampede on the staircase of a narrow FOB on 29 September 2017, during the morning rush hour. The government’s decision to call in the army to complete build a civilian bridge met with criticism from all quarters, News18 reported.

CM Fadnavis, Railway Minister & Mumbaikars Laud Indian Army

As many as 250 personnel of the Bombay Engineering Group and Centre, Pune, also known as Bombay Sappers, were involved in the task that was completed within three months. The FOBs were constructed by the army engineers in a record 117 days.

The construction process involved soil testing, designing the structure, construction launch of the Bailey Bridge and the final commissioning of the precast bridges, called Bailey Bridges, which can be built quickly and are common in the country's border region or difficult terrain, IANS reported.

Acknowledging the feat, both Goyal and Fadnavis thanked the army for its contribution and completion of the foot overbridges in record time.

Some Mumbaikars lost their life in the tragedy (stampede) last year. To prevent such unfortunate incidents, our city (BJP) chief Ashish Shelar had requested the defence minister to build the FOBs with the expertise of the army, which was accepted and today the FOBs have been thrown open. 

Devendra Fadnavis, Chief Minister, Maharashtra

On the occasion, he thanked the Centre for allocating Rs 51,000 crore in the Budget 2018-19 for upgrading the suburban network in Mumbai and extended suburbs.

Goyal said the railways have constructed 17 more FOBs.

Since last October, when the army was roped in to construct the three FOBs, different departments of railways have completed the construction of 17 more such FOBs at different stations and the work of building 22 more FOBs is underway, which will be completed by June 2018.

Piyush Goyal, Railway Minister, Union of India

Meanwhile, as a mark of gratitude, flower vendors decorated the newly built bridge for the inauguration.

Mumbaikars also expressed their appreciation for the state of the art foot overbridges built by the Indian army in a short span of time.

FOB Construction By Indian Army A First

The decision to hand over the bridges' construction to the Bombay Engineering Group (BEG), a division of Indian Army's Corps of Engineers, came in the wake of the stampede at Elphinstone Road FOB on 29 September, 2017.

This is the first time that the Indian Army has constructed such bridges for the Indian Railways in a congested urban setup like Mumbai.

The unfortunate stampede was attributed to the failure of civic agencies.

Initially, the bridges were scheduled to be completed by the 31 January deadline set by the state and Centre, officials said. The Indian army unveiled the new foot overbridge on 25 January, the News18 report added. But the deadline of inauguration was further delayed.

‘Honour to Be Chosen For Nation-Building Task,’ Said BRO Chief

Brigadier Dhiraj Mohan, the chief of Border Roads Organisation (BRO), in an interview to The Indian Express last January, said that the army didn’t play a key role in selecting the stations where the bridges were to be constructed. It was assigned to them by “higher authorities,” including the railways minister, he added. The designs for the bridge were brainstormed by two lieutenant colonels of the Military Engineering Services, he informed the daily.

Brigadier Dhiraj Mohan said the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) has a record of constructing 500 bridges which are stable and are strong enough to sustain extreme weather conditions.

“The foot overbridges in Mumbai will sustain for 50 years,” he told IE.

“The difference in the bridges is that these are modular, readymade (Bailey) bridges that can be launched in two hours. These are generally launched at ground level,” he told The Indian Express.

Speaking about the army’s experience in the construction of these bridges, Mohan told Indian Express that they consider it an “honour to be chosen for the nation building task.”

Actually, we are in love with the bridges. Our name ‘Bombay Sappers’ has been derived from this city. And thus we owe it to this city. 

Brigadier Dhiraj Mohan to <i>The Indian Express</i>

(With inputs from Indian Express, News18, PTI, IANS)

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