Urban News

The Municipal Corporation has once again been caught on the wrong foot. Though the construction of Rs 1.04 crore Pavittar Nagar Pulli over the Buddha Nallah in Haibowal is complete, yet commuters can’t use it. The MC having failed to acquire land beyond the bridge, as it is a private property, the money spent on the project has gone waste. The owner has erected a wall, thereby making the road useless. Moreover, the bridge has also been damaged.

M S Jaggi, Joint Commissioner, MC, said: “The reinforced wall has not been constructed towards one side of the bridge and hence depression has occurred at one point. So, once it is constructed, the bridge can be used. We delayed the construction of reinforced wall because the old bridge had to be demolished. Moreover, the land beyond the bridge has not been acquired yet.”

He said it will take one week’s time and they will do it once the land was acquired. The Newsline team was surprised to know that the cost of reinforced wall is only Rs 1 lakh. When asked why the bridge was constructed when the land was not acquired, he said he was not in the picture when the project was planned two years ago.

Talking about Gill flyover, which has also been damaged twice,Jaggi said: “It is being misunderstood that the quality of the flyover is not up to the mark. The 62-metre structure at its tail-end is just an extension made by the contractor for which no money has been paid to him. It is repaired whenever any damage occurs. Till the time Partap Chowk Flyover is not made, this extension has to be used by commuters. Later, both flyovers will be conncted and the problem will be solved,” he added. 

However, it needs to be mentioned that the tail end gets damaged repeatedly due to seepage of water. The Gill Flyover was constructed at a total cost of Rs 23 crore.