Thursday 28 Mar 2024

Fix the blame

Probe Cumbarjua’s leaning bridge to find out what went wrong

| FEBRUARY 13, 2017, 05:49 AM IST
The news that the newly inaugurated Cumbarjua-
Gandaulim bridge has been closed for repairs
while its steel truss is ‘strengthened’ makes for alarming
reading.
On April 24 last year the long awaited bridge was inaugurated
and was paraded as the poster boy for the Bharatiya
Janata Party’s ability to bring stalled projects back to life and
across the finish line when other governments struggle to get
the projects off the ground.
But in all that haste, could the bridge built at an estimated
cost of Rs 45-crore not including the approaches, end up being
a costly mistake?
Work on reinforcing the bridge began on January 4, and
while initially scheduled to complete before the end of the
same month, is now expected to be complete only after February
20. The work of reinforcement of the steel truss with additional
steel cross beams has only confirmed what was earlier
reported that the truss sports a
noticeable tilt, with the lean often
causing motorists to stop and take a
second look.
That the bridge is now being restricted
to light vehicles, with barriers
being installed along the approaches
to ensure only cars and
two wheelers can pass under, only
adds weight to the theory that the
bridge is fundamentally weak.
The situation leaves several unanswered questions: Was the
bridge inaugurated in a hurry? Is there a design flaw in the
bridge or is it simply bad execution? Is the bridge being reinforced
at additional cost to the state exchequer? And finally
will responsibility be fixed for this fiasco?
Admittedly, the bridge has been eight years in the making
and even required a rectification of a pier during its building.
The foundation stone for the Cumbarjua-Gandaulim bridge
was laid in 2007, the actual work of the bridge began on December
21, 2012. Curiously the bridge does not provide access
to Cumbarjua the island which hosts the bridge and the islanders
who have given up their land have to either use the
ferry or use the long route via Candola or Banastarim.
The GSIDC, which otherwise boasts of world class infrastructure,
should own up and come clean on this one. The
GSIDC owes us answers.
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