Work resumes with the intervention of Dr Jitendra
Gopal Sharma
KATHUA, Feb 16: A 532 mts span double lane concrete bridge over river Ujh, near Jathana and Jakhol villages in Barnoti block of district Kathua, will be ready for vehicular traffic by June this year.
Official sources told the Excelsior that the contractor moved men and machinery to the site and finally launched abandoned work hardly couple of days ago. They had started gathering steel bars and other shuttering material besides raising sheds for the labourers and other technical workers and allied staff at the bank of the river Ujh few weeks ago. He said the work will be completed in next four months.
It may be recalled that the work on the bridge could be resumed after three years with the initiative of Union Minister in PMO, Dr Jitendra Singh, who happens to be the Member Parliament from Kathua-Udhampur-Doda Parliamentary constituency. The district Administration and the sitting BJP MP played the crucial role in roping the contractor and resolving the matter.
This important bridge in Kandi belt of district Kathua, falling under Kathua North Assembly constituency was awaiting its completion for the last many years. The left over super-structure, with just long and narrow beams over the piers, was being used to cross the river by hundreds of villagers and school-going students/children on daily basis, and was posing a great threat to their lives.
Sources further said that this important bridge with the estimated cost of Rs 45.54 crores was sanctioned by the Government during March 2015 under Central Roads Fund (CRF). At that time Kote Punnu bridge under CRF on old Samba-Kathua Road was also sanctioned. The bridge at Kote Punnu was completed and made functional about four years ago, but this bridge near Jathana village in Barnoti block remained incomplete even after eight years of its sanction.
It said the work on this bridge commenced during 2017 and three years time was given to the agency, M/s V K Gupta & Associates from Chandigarh for completion. Though project cost of the bridge was Rs 45.54 crores, the work was tendered at Rs 36.80 crores with 1875 mts approach roads, for 500 mts span bridge. Unfortunately, this bridge witnessed some unusual hurdles. Initially, 445 mts span bridge with 2550 mts approach roads was proposed but the site selected for raising this bridge was changed. The PW(R&B) Department entrusted the work to JKPCC in March 2015. The proposed bridge site was shifted downstream as recommended by High Powered Committee of PW(R&B) Department in December 2015.
The shifting of bridge site to new location resulted in the increase of span length from 445 mts to 500 mts. The bids were invited by the agency on design and built basis for 500 mts span of bridge and reduced approach lengths of 1875 mts at a cost of Rs 36.80 crores. The contractor started work in February 2017 and within one and half years about 65-70% work was completed.
Interestingly, the agency JKPCC again increased the length of the bridge by 32 meters, to outflank the river banks to avoid direct hit of flooded river water of Ujh for the safety of the bridge. But after this development, a dispute emerged between the agency and the contractor and the latter abandoned the work, stating that it was not possible for him to execute work with the project cost of Rs 29.61 cr for 500 mt span bridge.
During floods, the people of Jathana and over a dozen hamlets and three Panchayats on that side of the river face problems. The students from these areas come to study in Govt Higher Secondary School at Forlain. There is massive risk to their lives while crossing during flood. A local villager- Indu said that over 10,000 people from several villages like Jathana, Khabbal, Kulad, Barari, Jambali, Tadwal, Kangli, Samundra, Jangara, Mayali etc have been badly affected.
A senior R&B official said that due to changing of site, the work on this bridge was delayed. He said the revised cost is now Rs 31.20 crores instead of Rs 29.61 crores for 532 mts span bridge. The contractor agreed during the meeting in November last to resume the work.
Chief Engineer R&B Department Jammu Rajesh Gupta when contacted said that R&B has taken work of this bridge in its hands. He said same contactor M/s VKG & Associates from Chandigarh will complete the remaining work along with approaches of the Ujh bridge. He claimed that the work will be completed by June 2024 by all means.
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