SRINAGAR, JUNE 6: Notwithstanding the government claims that “comprehensive plan was in place for all round development of Srinagar”, the upcoming bridge across Jhelum, scheduled to connect the City centre Poloview with posh Raj Bagh area, is brazen violation of Master Plan 2001-21.
 This looks enough to convey how improperly the bridge plan was conceived by the Ministry, headed by Chief Minister Omar Abdullah.

THE MASTER VIOLATION
 Officials working with the Housing and Urban Development Department (H&UDD) clarified that the upcoming vehicular bridge, is sheer violation of the Master Plan.
 A blue print of the Master Plan, copy of which lies with Greater Kashmir, clearly shows that there’s no scope for the upcoming bridge.
 “The Master Plan shows scope for two bridges and the same are already there in the form of Zero Bridge and Abdullah Bridge. There’s no scope of any other bridge except for the foot bridge near Lal Mandi,” said a senior official in the H&UDD, requesting not to be named.

THE REDUNDANCY
 The upcoming 120 meter bridge, which meets the Raj Bagh banks of Jhelum near Presentation Convent Higher Secondary School, is proposed to be four lane. The experts, however said, it would leave the nearby Abdullah Bridge virtually useless as people would prefer the new bridge given its proximity with the City centre of Lal Chowk.  
 Besides, the skewed bridge is being constructed at a time when the government has started repairs of the Zero Bridge, to make it motorable for light vehicles.
 Given the fact that heavy vehicles don’t ply in the City during daytime, the load on Abdullah Bridge could be considerably compensated by the Zero Bridge.
 “So what’s the fun of constructing a third bridge within a kilometer?” argued a civil engineer.

RISKY DESIGN
 The bridge coming up at an estimated cost of Rs 9.11 crore, is skewed in design. Within its 120 meter span, it will take two turns first a right downstream near GPO on the Poloview side and then a left to meet the Convent Road side.
 The skewing is being done because the two ends of the bridge don’t come face-to-face. But the skew is feared to make the bridge accident prone.
 The government, however, seems to be playing jugglery of words to hide the alleged design misgivings, feared to prove disastrous. An official handout released last week, when a high level team including MOS Home Nasir Aslam Wani and Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister, BB Vyas visited the construction site, said the bridge would be “slightly curved”. In reality, however, the bridge is taking two quick turns, each of 90 odd degrees.
 “Within a span of 120 meters the bridge is taking 180 degrees of curve, which is simply deadly. And projecting the same as a slight curve is idiotic,” confessed some senior officials working with Jammu and Kashmir Projects Construction Corporation (JKPCC), the project executing agency.
 The officials pleading anonymity said the engineers were not willing to approve the “accident prone” design but they had to do it under “political pressures.” The skew, first ever in the City, has fetched the bridge a hilarious name: Teda Bridge!

GOVT PLEADS VIOLATION
  The General Manager, JKPCC, Farooq Ahmed said he “wasn’t sure as to why the upcoming bridge was a Master Plan violation.”
 The MOS R&B Javed Ahmed Dar however doesn’t mind the Master Plan violation as a “big issue.”
 “Let’s look at the benefits of the bridge rather than criticizing it (for being Master Plan violation),” the MOS told Greater Kashmir.

The feasible alternative
EXPERTS said if the government was so desperate to construct a bridge to Raj Bagh, the ideal location was to construct it next to the Abdullah Bridge, downstream.
 The JKPCC officials said there was ample open space to construct a parallel bridge there. Given the fact that space on both the banks was a government land, the officials said, no money would have to be spent on any rehabilitation.
 The bridge is expected to cost less because the span of the straight bridge will be less than the presently coming 120-meter skewed structure.
 “Both the bridges, parallel to each other can be used for one way traffic,” said a traffic expert.
 The R&B officials said they had pitched the parallel bridge idea but the higher-ups didn’t agree to this.
“They gave a simple excuse that the bridge has, come what may, to be connected with the Convent Road,” the officials said.
The MOS R&B Javed Ahmed Dar who is curious to get suggestions on alternative to the “Teda Bridge” said the option of a bridge parallel to the Abdullah bridge would be explored.
 “We’ll pick up the issue with the honorable CM because he is heads the R&B Ministry,” Javed Ahmed Dar told Greater Kashmir.

Lastupdate on : Wed, 6 Jun 2012 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Wed, 6 Jun 2012 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Thu, 7 Jun 2012 00:00:00 IST