A month after repair, cracks appear on Rego bridge

Neeraj Bagga

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, January 11

Nearly a month after repair, dangerous cracks have reappeared on the century-old Rego bridge.

The upper surface of Bhagwan Mahavir Railway Overbridge (ROB), popularly known as Rego Bridge, has come off at several places. Iron railings and barricading to prevent commuters from walking on its ramshackle sides have also been removed.

However, its dilapidated condition has failed to catch attention of the authorities concerned. Commuters complained that pits on the road had become a cause of worry for them.

A resident of the Rani Ka Bagh area, Jarnail Singh, said traffic increased manifold on the ROB, but the authorities concerned carried out temporary repairs only. “It did not even last for a month,” he rued.

The bridge connects the GT road with the old city areas, near Gobindgarh Fort. It is considered one of the oldest bridges in the city, which was built before Independence. It was reconditioned in 1982. Entry of heavy vehicles on the bridge has been restricted since then.

Pardeep Gupta, a resident of the Islamabad area, said, “The bridge helps in saving a lot of time in intra-city movement, but no efforts have been made during past years for its regular upkeep”.

He said, “The area is teeming with potholes. Many a times, these have been filled with bricks as a stopgap arrangement. The side walk of the bridge, meant for pedestrians, is also in a bad condition. Garbage can is seen scattered all over it.”

The walkways on both sides of the bridge were lying unused for years. Instead of repairing these, the agency concerned had made it out of bound for any use by erecting fences, he added.

He said the ROB provides a short way to commuters coming from the Nawakot and Islamabad areas and scores of villages behind these localities to enter the city. Its immense utility in resolving myriad problems of the traffic had never been felt by the authorities, he added.

When contacted, Mayor Bakshi Ram said the portion of bridge over the rail track was under the jurisdiction of Railways while approaching slides on both sides were within limits of the Municipal Corporation (MC). He added that its repair would be carried out in case it was transferred in the MC’s domain.