The Versova-Yari Road bridge in suburban Mumbai is scheduled to be completed by December 2027, 25 years after the project was conceptualised. The 206-metre bridge will connect Lokhandwala with Andheri back road across the Kavthe creek in Andheri West, creating a direct east-west link between Yari Road, Panch Marg and Versova.

The route currently has no direct connectivity between the two areas, and travel takes about 30 minutes. Once the bridge opens, the journey is expected to take less than 10 minutes. Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) officials, led by additional municipal commissioner for Projects Abhijit Bangar, inspected the site on Monday and instructed the private contractor to finish the work by December next year.

Construction of the bridge’s pillars and columns is under way. The structure will have a Y-shaped design, with a 110-metre single-span steel basket-handle arch forming its main section. Tension rods will connect the steel arch to the bridge deck slab.

The project’s current cost is estimated at Rs. 480 mn, compared with the initial estimate of Rs. 160 mn. The increase has been attributed to the prolonged delay in executing the project. In 2019, members of a local housing society petitioned the Supreme Court, arguing that the proposed alignment was flawed and would affect mangroves.

The Supreme Court quashed the stay in August 2022, allowing the project to resume. Civic officials said the project then required several permissions from the forest and mangrove departments before construction could proceed. The approval process took more than three years, delaying the start of work and pushing the bridge’s completion timeline to December 2027.