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| Illegal mining of sand, bajri from beds of rivers, nullahs in Samba causes damage to bridges | | | Bharat Bhushan
JAMMU, Aug 25: The illegal and uncontrolled excavation of sand and bajri from the beds of rivers and nullahs in Samba district of the region has been termed as the main cause behind the weakening of the basic structures of bridges on them.
"These water bodies also have the evidence of degrading effects on their beds because of the mining of sand and bajri," official sources said.
"When the river and nullah beds are excavated in the immediate region of the bridges on them, it leads to the weakening of their foundations and ultimately to their collapse," the sources added.
Sources said illegal miners stripped the riverbanks bare and excavated pits in a way that increased the width of the river, which in turn "affect the foundations of bridges".
"Stripping rivers of excessive sand is also bad for agricultural purposes because without sand, water evaporates quickly," the sources added.
Taking a serious note of it, the agencies concerned have put a strict ban on the sand mining from the river beds in Samba district with immediate effect. An order to this effect was also issued today.
Quoting the order, sources said no miner was allowed to excavate sand within 500 mt upstream and 300 mt downstream from the bridges on Devak and Basantar rivers and Billowl nullah.
In the case of small nullahs, which had culverts on them, no excavation work was allowed within 150 mt upstream and 100 mt downstream, the sources added.
Sources said if any person was found violating this Government directive, stern action under law would be taken against him.
The old Devak bridge was last year damaged due to the weakening of its pillars as a lot of excavation work had been done in its immediate periphery. Similarly, the new Billowl bridge was this year closed to vehicular traffic because its pillars were stated to have suffered a negative effect due to the illegal and uncontrolled mining of sand and bajri in its vicinity, the sources added.
National Highway Authority of India (NHIA) project director RP Singh too had written to the district administrations of Samba and Kathua to take immediate steps for imposing a complete ban on the excavation of river and nullah beds near the bridges and culverts on them.
When contacted, he told ET over phone that the excavation of river and nullah beds in the immediate region of bridges and culverts on them "deepens the channels, which in turn endangers their foundations."
Devak bridge collapsed last year only due to the excavation work done in its close vicinity and this year, one of the foundations of Billowl bridge got damaged because of the uncontrolled digging by miners near it, Singh informed.
He said the district administrations of Kathua and Samba had been categorically told to stop the mining work at least 500 mt on each side of the bridges if they wanted to save them.
The NHAI project director said bridge expert Basu was arriving here from Kolkata tomorrow, or the day after tomorrow to suggest remedial measures so that the pillars and foundations of these bridges and culverts were provided the requisite strength.
Sources said the status of these rivers and nullahs was bad and needed immediate attention so that "it does not deteriorate further". |
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