Gohain to take it up with NFR

GUWAHATI, Oct 2: The Ministry of Railways is not au fait with as to why NF Railway has not been giving the Old Saraighat Bridge the very shape it should look like even as tiol Highway Authority of India (NHAI) giving its share to it for the upkeep the bridge that is crumbling apart.

This fact came to light on Monday when Minister of State for Railways Rajen Gohain told the media that he would inquired of the issue of the Old Saraighat Bridge with NF Railway. The Union minister was in Guwahati to release a magazine – BJP Varta – at Atal Bihari Vajpayee Bhawan.

This reporter asked Gohain as to why the Old Saraighat Bridge is being allowed to crumble and left as one of the dirtiest bridges even as NHAI releasing its share of Rs 13 crore for the upkeep of the old bridge to NF Railway, the minister said: “I’ll inquire of the matter and take it up.”

The Old Sairaighat Bridge, opened to traffic in April 1962, is ageing. News was doing rounds in the State that ‘the Old Bridge would be renovated once the New Bridge is commissioned’. The new Saraighat Bridge was commissioned by Union Road Transport and tiol Highway Minister Nitin Gadkari on January 29, 2017.

 The condition of the old bridge is pathetic – it has some big craters that may spell doom for vehicles plying over it, someday. The craters have just been covered with some plates, but it is no safe remedy. Rather such plates may lead to fatal accidents as there is every reason of the craters growing in their areas. The growth of tall herbs on either side of the bridge speaks volumes of the very quality of upkeep the State’s first road-cum-rail bridge across the Brahmaputra has all along been receiving. One may simply be baffled as to how grass has grown on a concrete bridge? This is quite possible as dust particles get accumulated on either side of the bridge. The accumulation of sand on the bridge has given rise to growth of herbs on it.

Since it is a road-cum-rail bridge the onus of its upkeep lies with both NF Railway and tiol Highway Authority of India (NHAI). However, an understanding has been reached between NF Railway and NHAI. According to the agreement, the NHAI pays an amount for the upkeep of the bridge to NF Railway that takes up the repair work.