Bathu bridge complete after decade-long delay

Lalit Mohan

Tribune News Service

Dharamsala, May 2

After about a decade of inordinately slow construction the vital Bathu bridge on Kangra-Ranital road is finally complete. The work on the bridge that was to be completed in two years since the award of the first contract in 2006 has finally been completed in 2016.

However, the commuters will have to wait further to use the bridge as the authorities are waiting for its inauguration before it is thrown open for traffic. The commuters are still being forced to use the narrow old bridge that can accommodate one-way traffic and is dotted with pot-holed road.

The approach roads to the bridge have almost been completed. The Bathu bridge on the Kangra-Ranital road had become a cause of misery for the commuters. In past about 10 years the cost of the bridge almost doubled and contractors had been changed twice before the construction was completed.

The old Bathu bridge that is being used now has outlived its utility and is in a poor state.Initially, the tentative cost of the bridge was Rs 4.82 crores and it was expected to be completed within two years.

The bridge is vital as it is a connecting link on the Kangra-Una and the Kangra-Hoshiarpur roads. A few years ago the old bridge was washed away during monsoons and the entire traffic had to be diverted on longer alternative road routes.

The PWD officials had blamed the non-availability of labour for the delay. The design for shuttering of the bridge that had not been approved by the authorities concerned was said to be one of the reasons for the delay.