E-Paper
Ludhiana’s historical Jagraon Bridge gets new lease of life
132-year-old British-era bridge thrown open to commuters with new look after undergoing repairs worth ₹24 crore for four years.
The historic Jagraon Bridge – a major traffic lifeline of the city – got a new lease of life on Wednesday, as one of the oldest bridge in the region was, at last, thrown open to city residents after a prolonged wait of four years.
The bowstring-girder bridge, which has become the cynosure of all eyes, connects the old city with the new areas, and has been built by the Railways by replacing an over 132-year-old structure constructed by the British in 1888.
One side of the bridge, the original structure, was found to be severely corroded in 2016, following which it was closed for repairs, resulting in traffic congestion with a cascading effect on vehicle movement on the Railway Station road, Lakkar Bridge, Vishwakarma Chowk and nearby areas.
For four years, it remained a struggle for commuters, who had to either take detours or face a harrowing time while entering or exiting the city from this side.
Peeved with the repair moving at a snail’s pace all these years, residents and NGOs had observed ‘four death anniversaries’ of the bridge as symbolic protests. This had prompted member of Parliament (MP) Ravneet Singh Bittu, cabinet minister Bharat Bhushan Ashu, mayor Balkar Sandhu and Road Safety Council member Rahul Verma to meet Union railway minister Piyush Goyal over the delay in March 2020.
Social activist Gurpal Grewal said, “It took four years to complete the project, that too, after frequent protests by NGOs and residents to wake up the authorities from their deep slumber.”
PUNJAB’S LONGEST BOWSTRING BRIDGE: A MARVEL OF MODERN ENGINEERING
At 63.5 metres, the bowstring-girder bridge is now the longest in Punjab, snatching the tag from a similar bridge in Shahkot that is around 50 metres long.
At 9 metres high, the bridge weighs around 530 tonnes and has been erected by tightening around 34,000 nut-bolts.
“Its width has also been increased from 7.5 metres to 10.5 metres, which will allow traffic to move in three lanes,” said Gurdeep Singh, senior section engineer, constructions, Railways.
The Rs 24-crore project was carried out by a Delhi-based company, while the bowstring girder was prepared at a Ghaziabad workshop.
MC officials said they were working to beautify the structure by installing colourful lights at the bridge under the Smart City Mission, as the bridge had become a landmark for the city.
STRING OF MISSED DEADLINES
Conceived in 2016, the project to repair this damaged portion of the bridge stayed in limbo for two years as the railways refused to pool in money for it.
It was only after the municipal corporation (MC) handed over Rs 24.3 crore to the railways that construction finally began in 2018, with a deadline of June 30, 2019.
However, the railways could not proceed with the work, attributing the delay to MC’s failure in removing encroachments along the bridge by June 2018. There were around 100 encroachments in the form of houses, which were razed by MC amid resistance by the occupants, who have since been shifted to flats constructed under a government scheme in Mundiyan Kalan.
In December 2019, MC took over the project and announced it will be completed by March 2020.
However, roadblocks caused by the Covid-19 lockdown pushed the completion to June. The fourth deadline was revised to August 15 and then again extended to September 15, citing change in foundation design as the reason behind the delay.
Finally, mayor Balkar Sandhu recently announced that the bridge will be opened by September 30 or October 2.
“The bridge was opened to vehicles on Wednesday and will have a minimum life of 100 years, if maintained properly,” said Dayaram, executive engineer, Railways Construction Organisation.
PROJECT MARRED BY ‘EMBEZZLEMENT’
The project was also embroiled in controversy with the mayor catching an alleged embezzlement of around Rs 44 lakh in the estimates that were prepared for constructing the retaining wall of the bridge. Show-cause notices were issued to four officials, including two superintending engineers, one sub-divisional officer and a junior engineer. According to the mayor, the report was sent to the local bodies department for conducting further inquiry. The department had since delegated the task to a third party to conduct the technical and financial audit of the project.
CONGRESS TAKES CREDIT BY INSTALLING HOARDINGS
While no inaugural ceremony was organised at the site, the Congress leadership took credit of the project by installing multiple hoardings along the bridge and Ferozepur Road.
Through these hoardings, the Congress leaders, including mayor Balkar Sandhu, cabinet minister Bharat Bhushan Ashu and MP Ravneet Singh Bittu, among others, thanked the residents for being patient and congratulated them on completion of the project.
