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| Will J&K Govt penalise JKPCC, R&B engineers, Singla construction? | | Collapse of fourth bridge over Tawi | | Syed Junaid Hashmi
JAMMU, Sept 7: Whether or not state government would be able to initiate action against planners and executors, washing away of approaches as well as pillar of fourth Tawi Bridge has exposed inability of involved agencies to assess strength of the structures being constructed by them for public good.
The bridge is shut for traffic within 15 months of being thrown open for traffic on May 17, 2013 after just the first flash flood that struck it hard. Had it not been the wise decision of Divisional Commissioner Shantmanu to close bridges for vehicular traffic besides restricting movement by foot, a major catastrophe would have occurred on the fourth bridge which was witnessing heavy traffic due to closure of old Tawi bridge. Administrative wisdom saved Jammu from disaster.
Fourth bridge connects Bhagwati Nagar area with South Jammu and used to have heavy rush of vehicles for most part of the day. On the fateful day, hundreds of people had lined up on both the sides of the bridge to witness gushing waters in river Tawi. Such was the rush that police had to resort to whistling to keep people away from standing on the bridge. The decision to close all the seven bridges for traffic was found wise one when the approaches to the fourth bridge suddenly collapsed.
If those who captured videos and witnessed the sliding of the approaches are to believed, the ill-planned construction of lake a little away from the bridge actually led to collapse of approaches and a pillar of the fourth bridge. They maintain that pillars which have been constructed for the lake proposed to be constructed on river Tawi actually hindered the flow of fast flowing water and diverted it towards the wall of the approaches, damaging it severely.
The poorly constructed wall got damaged due to the gushing waters, leading to washing away of the approaches. The concrete structure had been constructed so poorly that it collapsed within some minutes of diverted water striking it hard. These pillars which have been raised for supporting the under construction artificial lake actually acted as demons for the fourth bridge. Damage has been caused to the entire structure and it would take more than six months to make it functional again.
An engineer said that washing away of the approaches has created an embarrassing situation for Jammu and Kashmir Project Construction Corporation (JKPCC) which was awarded the project, Roads and Buildings Department which awarded the project and S.P.Singla Construction Company which constructed the bridge in a short span of 3 years. Ironically, both the Engineers who headed JKPCC and the PWD during the construction of this bridge are enjoying prize position.
It needs to be mentioned here that PWD is yet to clear outstanding bills worth some crores of S.P.Singla Construction Company. The then Managing Director of JKPCC Madan Gupta who was directly involved in the construction is nowadays Development Commissioner in the PWD while Sheikh Tehseen Mustafa whose sole role was construction of approaches and overseeing the construction is Chief Executive Office (CEO) of Economic Reconstruction Agency (ERA). Both Gupta and Tehseen enjoy patronage from the top.
Madan Gupta whose role also figured in the collapse of legislative complex was suspended and later, reinstated within days with a prize posting. Others officials involved in the case continue to be penalised with some working in the attachment capacity while others are not even being allowed to draw salaries. Gupta had then claimed that the bridge is landmark achievement of JKPCC.
Chief Minister Omar Abdullah had inaugurated the bridge alongwith other ministers on May 17, 2013. The bridge was constructed with the cost of Rs 147 crore, in two separate sections on Nikki and BaddiTawi near Tawi Island with total length of 750 meters. Of this, Rs. 93 crore pertained to bridge component while rest of the funds are earmarked for approach roads on both sides including two minor bridges.
The commissioning of this vital bridge over Tawi provided major relief to the people to the existing traffic congestion problem at Jewel Chowk, BikramChowk and Dogra Crossing besides the ever busy Canal Road.
The vehicular traffic coming from Pathankote, Kathua and Samba side towards Akhnoor, Rajouri and Poonch would take this route via old Ware House and Bhagwati Nagar, thus minimizing traffic load at Jewel crossing and Canal Road which used to witness heavy traffic congestion. |
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