Delisle bridge inaugurated; Aaditya Thackeray absent at ceremony

Mumbai, Nov 23 (PTI) Maharashtra minister and Mumbai's guardian minister Deepak Kesarkar on Thursday dedicated to the public a newly constructed Delisle Bridge in Lower Parel area that provides East-West connectivity in central Mumbai.

Shiv Sena (UBT) leader and Worli MLA Aaditya Thackeray who had `inaugurated' it last week while protesting the `delay' in opening it for traffic, was not present.

Guardian minister for the Mumbai suburban district Mangal Prasad Lodha, MLC Sunil Shinde who belongs to the Sena (UBT), Shiv Sena (Eknath Shinde faction) MLA Sada Sarvankar and BJP MLAs Ashish Shelar and Kalidas Kolambkar were present at the function.

Lodha suggested on this occasion that the bridge be renamed for an Indian personality.

An escalator connected to the bridge would be ready in eight months, and till the time the footpath is constructed, a white line will demarcate the pedestrian zone, Kesarkar said.

Recreational facilities including a garden and a sports ground will be developed under the bridge, he said.

As per BMC officials, the new design of the bridge created nearly two acres of open space underneath.

The old, British-era Delisle bridge was dismantled in 2019 after the Railways declared it unsafe on the basis of an IIT Bombay report.

The BMC started reconstruction of the bridge in 2020.

Earlier this week, police registered a case against Thackeray, a former state minister, and a few others for throwing open a part of the structure without the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation's (BMC) permission.

Thackeray had claimed that the construction was complete but Chief Minister Eknath Shinde had no time to inaugurate it. PTI KK KRK