Three months on, repair work of Nangal bridge yet to start

Arun Sharma

Nangal, April 10

The woes of residents of a large number of villages as well as commuters are not likely to end anytime in near future since the closing of the Algran bridge last year. The authorities have not started the repair work of the damaged bridge even after more than three months. Officials of the PWD Department confirmed that they were yet to assess the damage, its remedies as well as cost of repair.

Given the current scenario, there is no chance to start the repair work before the end of monsoon season as it will not be possible to work when the river will be flooded with rainwater, a PWD official in Ropar said. Even if the work is started before the onset of monsoon, it has to be suspended during rainy season, he added.

It was three months ago in December when a private agency hired by the PWD authorities to conduct safety audit of the bridge had advised the immediate closure of the traffic on this bridge to avoid any untoward incident. Majority of 13 piers of the 30-year-old bridge have been exposed up to depth of 8 m due to illegal mining in the Swan river, while pier number 7 has been dislocated resulting in an increase in the gap between the slabs of the bridge.

Following this, the bridge was closed to traffic on December 22, leaving the residents of nearly 20 villages with no option but to take alternate and long routes to reach their destinations. The commuters from Nangal and Nurpur Bedi area have to cover a distance of 65 km against 35 km. Similarly, the residents of Nurpur Bedi have to cover a distance of 37 km against 28 km earlier to reach Nangal.

Though the locals have laid a track in the Swan river to commute, it remains inundated during rains.

PWD Chief Engineer SS Dhindsa, whose wing is responsible for repairing the bridge, and Ropar PWD XEN Davinder Kumar did not pick up phone despite repeated efforts. SDE Gurwinder Singh said they were waiting for a report from Thapar Engineering College regarding the damage and its scope of repair, following which work will be started.

Meanwhile, Ropar DC Preeti Yadav said efforts were being made to start repair work as soon as possible.