Cross Paonta bridge at your own risk

Tribune News Service

Solan, June 23

Travelling on the Yamuna bridge at Paonta Sahib has become risky with severe vibrations causing the bridge to rock. The vibrations are especially visible when a large number of vehicles cross the bridge.

Commuters experience such vibrations, especially when they are caught up in a traffic jam, and people are waiting to pay the entry tax or stop for meeting other formalities pertaining to the Excise and Taxation and RTO.

Concerned over the situation, Subodh Abi, a retired engineer, today wrote a letter to the Deputy Commissioner Sirmaur, SP Sirmaur, SDM Paonta Sahib and other officials and requested for immediate action.

The bridge is a crucial link connecting Himachal to the neighbouring Uttarakhand and being an industrial town it faces heavy influx of trucks carrying industrial goods.

While terming this as a situation requiring immediate attention he said certain steps should be taken immediately to avert a tragedy. These measures include removal of the entry tax barrier from the bridge and shifting of the Excise and Taxation and Police personnel checking vehicles to other locations as vehicles remained stranded on the bridge.

He also suggested that the speed limit on the bridge of loaded vehicles and buses should not exceed 20 km ph and that for passenger cars and other vehicles, it should be limited to 40km ph.

While it was high time the engineers of PWD and National Highways Authority of India examined the cause of the oscillations, dampers should be put in place to stop or reduce the vibrations.

A new bridge should be constructed beyond Rampur Ghat so that all heavy traffic carrying industrial produce and crushed stone is diverted from the main bridge.

Crucial link

• Subodh Abi, a retired engineer, has written a letter to the Deputy Commissioner Sirmaur, SP Sirmaur, SDM Paonta Sahib and other officials seeking immediate action.
• He said certain steps should be taken immediately to avert a tragedy. 
•  The bridge is a crucial link connecting Himachal to the neighbouring Uttarakhand.