Bridge inaugurated but PWD says it cannot guarantee safety

May 24, 2022 37 Views No Comment

Morung Express News
Dimapur | May 24

A notice from the Nagaland PWD with regard to a recently inaugurated bridge has given rise to confusion as well as concerns over structural safety. The bridge in question, spanning a tributary of the Dhansiri River about 15 minutes drive from the Zion Hospital & Research Centre, Dimapur, has a chequered history and was only recently opened to traffic in February this year, amid official fanfare. It connects Shozhukhe village (Dimapur district) with Zukihe (Niuland district) and serves as a crucial link for several villages in the Kuhuboto Block and also as a shorter route to the Ralan area in Wokha district and beyond by skirting Assam.

The notice from the Engineer-in-Chief, PWD, was issued on May 21 asking the Deputy Commissioner, Dimapur, to inform the public to avoid using the bridge till the safety of the bridge gets certified by experts. It said that the bridge was opened to traffic “without authorization and approval of the PWD.”

“As such there is no guarantee of the structural safety and stability of the bridge. The bridge needs to be certified by technical expert before opening to normal traffic. Therefore, you are requested to issue notice to public not to ply on this bridge till the department certify the bridge with technical experts,” it stated.

Subsequently, the same day, the DC issued a public advisory informing the same. It however went public only on May 23 to the bewilderment of the public.

The DC, Dimapur, when contacted, said that the advisory was notified as asked by the PWD. The PWD Engineer-in-Chief, in turn, also maintained that the advisory was issued to the DC as directed by the government.

As reported by The Morung Express in October 2019 and again in February 2020, the said bridge was originally funded by the North Eastern Council through the erstwhile NLCPR. Construction was commissioned around 2006-07 at an estimated Rs 603.17 lakh. The project was abandoned midway over purported financial wrangling between the PWD and the construction firm (PABSCON), which eventually landed in court. In 2019, the work contract was foreclosed reportedly at the request of the contractor.

Meanwhile, effort was made by the public of the area to resume construction through crowd-funding. The bridge was finally completed and inaugurated in February 2022 by the PHED Minister, Jacob Zhimomi.

The bridge, purportedly, was not put through the required scrutiny by technical experts, which resulted in the PWD issuing the advisory.

The PWD chief said that the state government has earmarked fund to assess the structural safety and stability of the bridge. It was not clear as to when the government would carry out the technical assessment and subsequent issuing of certification.

Source: https://morungexpress.com/bridge-inaugurated-but-pwd-says-it-cannot-guarantee-safety