Rajamahendravaram: Road-cum-rail bridge repairs a farce

Rajamahendravaram(East Godavari District): With the only road between Rajahmundry and Kovvur being closed, people are facing lot of inconvenience.

It should be reminded here that District Collector K Madhavi Latha announced on October 13 that the bridge will be closed for emergency repairs for a week, starting from October 14. Even after the deadline mentioned by the Collector to reopen the bridge, the repairs are not completed. It would be more reasonable to say that the repairs have not actually started in full rather than that they have not been completed.

It was alleged that the repair works of the Road-cum-Rail bridge on Godavari river connecting Rajahmundry and Kovvur, which is the most important in terms of transport in the State, has become a big farce. Because generally, closing and repairing such a bridge is made after identifying the defects and making proposals. Once the approvals are received and funds are sanctioned, then the work will be taken up.

But here everything went in reverse. All of a sudden, closure of the bridge was announced, without proposals going through and without getting permission and funds.

Leaders of Telugu Desam, CPI and other political parties and farmers' JAC accused the government of suddenly announcing repairs and closing the bridge was to prevent the march of Amaravati farmers from crossing this bridge.

Rajahmundry rural MP Gorantla Butchaiah Chaudhary said that it is impossible to repair the bridge in a week or ten days. He also vowed to cut off his ears if the government shows him the repairs within ten days.

The R&B EE said that it was the government's decision to close the bridge and carry out emergency repairs. He also mentioned that as part of the emergency repairs, potholes on the road were buried. He said the issue of the bridge reopening is not in their control. The officials are not confirming the expenditure so far.

According to unofficial information, the relevant contractor has spent up to Rs 10 lakh. But there is no movement of machinery or large number of workers for road repairs on this four-km-long bridge, which is famous in Asia. 15-meter long fallen railing was removed

and an iron railing was installed on roadside. Potholes were filled and patchwork was done on

the road.

When 'The Hans India' asked MP Bharat Ram when the repairs of the bridge would be completed, he said that they are looking for funds from the Central government. He confirmed that they have estimated Rs 100 crore for temporary repairs and Rs 300 crore for complete repairs. He reminded that he had already said that the repairs would not be completed within a week.

Speaking to 'The Hans India', MLA Gorantla Butchaiah Chowdary questioned where the funds would come from without sending proper proposals. He criticised that the bridge was completely deteriorated due to neglecting emergency repairs and maintenance work for the past three and a half years.

A fruit vendor, V Chitti Babu, said that in the past when this bridge was closed for repairs,

the government arranged a special passenger train and a ferry service also.

Meanwhile, the officers of Safety Committee of coordinating departments like police, R&B, railway, fire and electricity departments inspected the bridge on Wednesday as part of routine inspections. They discussed the age of the bridge, current condition, safety measures to be taken, lighting, etc. Officials in the committee will make appropriate suggestions and give a report to the government.