India, Oct. 2 -- The clock has begun ticking on rebuilding the Elphinstone road-overbridge (ROB), one of Mumbai's most complex infrastructure projects. But before the project actually gets underway, the Indian Railways has raised a red flag, warning it won't allow the project to proceed until its demand for "way leave charges" is approved.

The bridge, a vital east-west connector between Prabhadevi and Parel, straddles sections of the Western and Central railways, both suburban railways in Mumbai. This means Maha Rail (Maharashtra Rail Infrastructure Development Corporation), which is executing the project, will need to use railway land to construct the new state-of-the-art, double-deck flyover. For this, the railways are due "way leave c...