Nurpur: Chakki bridge shut since July 8, traders, villagers want it opened for light vehicles

Rajiv Mahajan

Nurpur, August 3

Residents of Kandwal, Baranda, Khanni, Baduee, Giora and Jassur gram panchayats in Nurpur tehsil and people visiting Kangra district and Pathankot (Punjab) everyday have to travel additional 15 km to 30 km through the alternative Kandwal-Lodhwan-Pathankot link road to reach their destinations. The commuters have to take the alternative route as the interstate bridge on the Chakki rivulet at Kandwal in Nurpur is closed for traffic after the gabion wall raised around pillar No. 1 and 2 washed away in flashfloods recently.

Heavy vehicles of construction firm allowed

• The Kangra district administration had closed this highway bridge on July 8 even for light vehicles and two-wheelers.
• Commuters have to travel additional 15 km to 30 km through the alternative Kandwal-Lodhwan-Pathankot link road to reach their destinations.
• While the bridge is closed for people, heavy vehicles of the road construction company engaged in repairing its two pillars are regularly using it.

The district administration had closed this highway bridge on July 8 even for light vehicles and two-wheelers. Travelling on this alternative potholed road is risky during night, especially for two-wheelers.

Surprisingly, while the bridge is closed for people, heavy vehicles of the road construction company engaged in repairing its two pillars are regularly using it. A barricade has been put up at the Kandwal barrier in Nurpur on the Pathankot-Mandi national highway-54. People, who are undergoing treatment at private hospitals at Pathankot, are among the worst-sufferers.

Rajiv Raju, president of the Beopar Mandal, Jassur, near here, and Rakesh Bharti, vice-chairman, Market Welfare Committee, Jassur, lamented that there was no justification in keeping the bridge closed for light four-wheelers and two-wheelers when heavy vehicles of the construction company were crossing the bridge frequently.

Meanwhile, the elected representatives of the nearby gram panchayats and the traders of Jassur, Nurpur, Rehan and Raja ka Talab have appealed to the Kangra administration to intervene and ensure the early opening of the bridge for light vehicles, including two-wheelers, at least for some hours and to allow vehicles carrying patients to use the bridge.

The NHAI had closed the bridge for heavy vehicles in September last year. The protection work undertaken by raising an embankment around the exposed pillars of the bridge and the diversion of the course of the Chakki rivulet at the cost of over Rs 1 crore had gone down the drain due to fierce flashfloods.

Nipun Jindal, Deputy Commissioner, Kangra, said that keeping in view inconvenience caused to two-wheeler riders and patients visiting hospitals at Pathankot, he would talk to the NHAI and take appropriate action.