Travelling on this bridge is a risk to life

 The construction of a new bridge adjacent to the Amanikere in the city at a cost of Rs one crore, three years ago, had left the Gandhinagar residents elated. The old bridge, which was dilapidated, posed a constant threat to the vehicle users as it could collapse anytime.

The bridge was the lifeline of the residents and other city dweller as it leads to Mulbagal and connects City to the NH 4.

However, the joy was shortlived as within few months after its inauguration, the new bridge was ridden with potholes and asphaltation peeled off in many places.

The condition of the new bridge near the entrance of Gandhinagar is pathetic as one can only see potholes instead of road.

As asphaltation has completely peeled of, the vehicle users are exposed to gravel. One of the worst affected are motorcyclists.

As bikes can skid on the small gravel, riders have to be extremely cautious.

As a result many of the motorists are now taking the old road through the Gandhinagar area and are also travelling on the old dilapidated bridge, risking their lives.

Construction company

The contract to construct the bridge was awarded to the Nagarjuna Construction Company. Potholes surfaced in the newly constructed within months after the company opened the bridge for vehicular movement.

The Public Works Department (PWD), however, took up the patch up work of filling the potholes and asphalting the road. As a result the bridge was used by the public for some more days.

However, by the end of 2010, a lot of potholes surfaced on the bridge with no traces of asphaltation. The department then took up asphaltation of the entire road on the bridge and banned all vehicular movement.

Though PWD’s efforts paid off, it was only for a few more months. From the beginning of the 2012, the bridge is again ridden with potholes, much bigger than the earlier ones. Some of the potholes are so wide and deep that heavy vehicles like bus and lorry have to tread with caution affecting the traffic on the bridge.

The residents have blamed PWD and Nagarjuna Company for the shoddy work. They said that travelling on the bridge was akin to risking their lives.

The new bridge at Gandhinagar is not the only victim of the shoddy work. Most of the roads in the city also share the same fate. So much so that City Municipal Council (CMC) members routinely allege shoddy work in the general meetings.

One of the best example is the stretch between Mekke Circle to Srinivaspur Toll Gate in the city, which was asphalted at a cost of Rs one crore. The road, till the beginning of this year was in shambles.

However, owning to repeated protests and road blocks by the residents of Galpet, Palasandra and surrounding areas, the road was asphalted. However, potholes have resurfaced. This in spite of the assurance from the district in-charge minister Varthur Prakash that quality would be maintained.

Though crores of rupees are spent on the asphaltation of roads in the city, the work is of substandard quality. There are also areas in city, which even after 10 to 20 years of formation don’t have tarred roads.

There are also examples of CMC asphalting Conservancy roads, hardly used by people. PC Layout, Jayanagar, Karanjikatte, Palasandra Layout, Harohalli are some of the worst affected areas.