Bridge work going on at snail’s pace

Till now, even half the work is not completed and the travelers are forced to use the old bridge constructed during the British time

Luxettipet (Adilabad): Apathy of the officials concerned and negligence of the contractors have resulted in the slowing down of works relating to construction of a bridge on River Godavari over National Highway 63 between the villages of Gudem of Dandepalli mandal of Adilabad district and Rayapatnam village in Dharmapuri mandal in Karimnagar district.

Till now, even half the work was not completed and the travelers are forced to use the old bridge constructed during the British time. The commuters are finding it difficult to use the dilapidated hundred year- old bridge which is very narrow and congested with traffic and they fear that it may collapse anytime.

Five years ago, the bridge contract was given to GVR Company after calling for tenders and works were taken up at an estimated cost of Rs 52 crore. While 27 pillars were already constructed, a slab was constructed and it needs four more pillars from Rayapatnam and seven pillars from Gudem.

Even after five years, the works have not been completed and construction of 16 pillars is yet to be constructed.In the lower region of the bridge, construction works relating to Sripada Yellampalli project have been completed on River Godavari near Namnoor village and is ready for inauguration.

If the Yellampalli Project is opened for public, the old dilapidated bridge might cave in and get submerged in the river. Speaking to The Hans India here on Thursday, a resident of Gudem village, Billakuri Bapu, and M Dayakar of Dandepalli village expressed the hope that the local leaders would prevail upon the state government to complete the works relating to the construction of the bridge and save the lives of the people.