Mumbai bridge 'inaugurated' by Aaditya Thackeray to be thrown open for traffic on Thursday

Mumbai, Nov 22 (PTI) Maharashtra minister Deepak Kesarkar on Wednesday said a newly constructed bridge in Mumbai's Lower Parel area will be thrown open for traffic on Thursday and the local Lok Sabha MP and MLAs will be invited for the function.

The Delisle bridge was at the centre of a controversy after the police registered a case against Shiv Sena (UBT) MLA Aaditya Thackeray and a few others on Saturday last for allegedly `inaugurating’ a part of the structure without the Mumbai civic body’s permission.

Replying to a question about the bridge inauguration at a press conference at the BMC headquarters here, Kesarkar, who is also guardian minister of Mumbai city, said only three to four days of work was pending and it has been completed now.

Hence, the bridge will be thrown open to motorists on Thursday (November 23), he said.

Kesarkar said he has asked the civic body to install railings, in place of a permanent footpath, which are missing at the newly constructed railway over bridge between Lower Parel and Prabhadevi stations on the suburban section of the Western Railway.

He said on public demand the bridge will be connected with Lower Parel station and escalators will be installed for easy access to the railway premises.

'Work on this bridge was going on for the last five years and was accelerated between 2022 and 2023 and has been completed now,' Kesarkar said, adding they generally invite all local MPs and MLAs when they inaugurate a project.

The bridge is located in Thackeray’s Worli constituency in central Mumbai.

Without naming Thackeray, Kesarkar said some people are in a hurry, apparently referring to the bridge's 'inauguration' by the former state minister, and added 'he was not aware of many things'.

Thackeray, a former Maharashtra minister, last week claimed the construction of the bridge was completed two weeks ago but it was not opened to motorists as Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde had no time to inaugurate it.

As per a BMC complaint, Thackeray, Sena (UBT)’s members of legislative council Sachin Ahir and Sunil Shinde, former mayors Kishori Pednekar and Snehal Ambekar, and 15 to 20 others 'inaugurated' the second carriageway of the Delisle bridge on Thursday night without the BMC administrator’s permission. PTI KK RSY