Govt apathetic towards risky bridges

GS Paul

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, September 21

A year has passed to the infamous mishap wherein seven schoolchildren had lost their lives when the bus they were travelling in plunged into a canal in the absence of sound railings on the bridge in Attari, but the state government is yet to wake up from its deep slumber to repair dilapidated bridges or replace them with the new ones.

On September 20, 2016, a bus carrying 30-40 children of a school in Attari’s Neshta village had fallen in the drain while crossing a bridge in Mahawa village. The railing on the bridge was so weak that it could not withstand the school bus collision. Gurmanpreet Kaur (5), Yuvraj Singh (8), his sister Sehajdeep Kaur (10), Robinpreet Singh (8), Jasmine Kaur (10), Sehajpreet Singh (7) and Anshpreet Kaur (5) had died. The children belonged to the nearby villages of Tibbi, Muhawa and Neshta.

Gurnam Singh, former sarpanch of Mahwa village and grandfather of Robinpreet, told that the same bridge was still without any safety railing.

“The politicians, be it Sukhbir Badal (then Deputy CM) or Capt Amarinder Singh (then MP, Amritsar) outdid each other for a photo opportunity to visit the aggrieved families for political mileage, but they never spared a thought afterwards. MLA Tarsem Singh DC had announced Rs 2.5 lakh for bridge’s repair, but till date the amount is awaited. Capt Amarinder formed the government six months ago, but the tragedy is a lost chapter for the government,” he said.

Rajinder Singh, whose daughter Jasmine Kaur (10) was among the victims, said the authorities were done with their duties by just widening the bridge by four feet. The absence of crash railings on bridges built on canal distributries in rural as well as border belt have virtually turned these into a death trap and claimed lives in the past as well.

Following a road mishap near the Ramdass area in January 2014, the administration and the police had woken up, but for a shorter period without any outcome. Then DC Ravi Bhagat had directed officials of the Public Works Department, Mandi Board and Central Works Department for preparing a report. As many as 10 persons had died in this mishap after their car fell into the canal from the bridge without a railing.

A survey was conducted by the then SSP (rural) Jasdeep Singh. Almost 86 bridges were identified which didn’t have any railings, thus making it an accident-prone area.

As per the list, the areas falling under the Tarsikka and Mattewal police stations have maximum number of canal bridges (nine) without railings. Similarly, areas falling under the Gharinda and Ajnala police station have eight and seven risky bridges, respectively. Chatiwind, Kamboh, Majitha, Beas Bhindi Saida and Jandiala Guru too have six similar bridges falling in its area.

“We had submitted it to the district administration, but there was no follow-up action,” said Jasdeep Singh. Endorsing it, a top-level PWD officer (preferring anonymity) revealed that estimates from various departments were called up, but with the change of command in the state, the proposal to repair these bridges was dumped.

Unsafe bridges in district

A survey was conducted in which 86 unsafe bridges were identified. The areas falling under the Tarsikka and Mattewal police stations have maximum number of canal bridges (nine) without railings. Similarly, areas falling under the Gharinda and Ajnala police station have eight and seven risky bridges, respectively. Chatiwind, Kamboh, Majitha, Beas Bhindi Saida and Jandiala Guru too have six such bridges.