Pune: The demolition work of the 190-year-old Amrutanjan Bridge in the Bor (Khandala) Ghat section on the Pune-Mumbai highway began on Sunday morning.

The bridge, built by the British in 1830, will be razed with controlled blasts under the aegis of Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC). Traffic will be diverted to the old Mumbai-Pine highway till this work is underway.

The Highway Police has planned traffic diversions to facilitate the 10-day work. The Pune-bound traffic on the Mumbai-Pune Expressway will be diverted at kilometre No. 44, known as Anda Point, through Khandala and Lonavla while those travelling to Mumbai will be diverted at kilometre No. 55 at Lonavla Exit through Lonavla and Khandala and subsequently join the Expressway at Anda Point.

With heavy traffic between Mumbai and Pune causing a delay in the demolition of this bridge for the last three years, the 21-day coronavirus lockdown gave the perfect opportunity to the authorities to demolition this bridge as traffic had dwindled.

The bridge is technically inconvenient for the flow of traffic in the Khandala Ghat section. The bridge that gained its name because of an advertisement of a famous brand of balm will become history by April 14.