The fourth bridge on Tawi which connects Ware House with Bhagwati Nagar has been closed to public traffic. This order of the R&B Department has put thousands of people to great inconvenience. This bridge is in fact meant to bring the connectivity to Akhnoor Road via Canal. As such it was thought to be one of the main arteries in Jammu that links up the National Highway. It is believed that the bridge might have been closed owing to the damage to approach road suffered because of the floods of August 7. Actually the problem is that the floods washed away the concrete embankments/protection walls along the approach roads to Tawi Bridge. Flood waters washed away the filling for the first pillar and thus widened the gap.
The question is why did the JKPCC/R&B decide to start the work when the monsoon was round the corner? Previous experience shows that monsoon season is not the season of starting these works when floods are imminent at any time of the day or night. At least on five occasions in the past the floods have washed away the work done by R&B in rainy season.
However, Managing Director of the JKPCC said that about 90 % of work on protection wall upstream has been completed. Authorities are never prepared to own their faults or carelessness. Their argument is that Nikki Tawi has been frequently changing its course. They also try to take shelter behind the argument that they started the work in June which is not the rainy season and expected to complete it by the middle of July when rains begin to pour. But this year the monsoons advanced and this became the reason for the hurdles in the completion of work.
Whatever the reason, we would urge the JKPCC/R&B to repair the bridge in question as early as possible because it caters to hundreds of thousands of commuters. It also causes inconvenience to student community and ordinary citizens who have to go a circuitous road to reach their destination. The bridge should be made serviceable immediately.
Trending Now
E-Paper
Follow our WhatsApp channel