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Majerhat Bridge gets clearance certificate to open

Majerhat Bridge gets clearance certificate to open
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Kolkata: Following a series of tweets and counter-tweets over the controversy on the delay in completing construction of Majerhat Bridge, the railway authorities on Friday "has issued" clearance to throw open the four-lane cable stayed bridge on Diamond Harbour Road for public.

The state Public Works Department (PWD) minister Aroop Biswas on Thursday stated at Nabanna that there was delay in completing construction of the bridge by around nine months as the railways had delayed in giving different necessary clearances. The statement came following an agitation by BJP workers protesting against the delay in construction of the bridge connecting major portion of south Kolkata including Behala with that of the central business district. The Chief Minister had also taken a dig at BJP for "staging drama" in the name of protest after holding the Centre responsible for the delay. The state government has also stated that the construction is complete and they were just waiting for the clearances from the railway's end to throw the bridge open for public on any day after November 25.

When contacted, a senior PWD officer said that they have received the clearance from the railways to open the bridge on Friday and the date will be announced soon.

On Friday afternoon, Biswas tweeted: "PWD paid Rs 7.37 crore to railways as supervision and consulting charges. Rs 2.34 crore as planning and estimated fees for 70 metre portion Railways supervised their portion of the bridge and they must produce the safety certificate, not PWD. Piyush Goyal ji, stop spreading misinformation!"

"Further, PWD in its letter to Eastern Railway dated 24/11 mentioned that all major activities with respect to Majerhat Bridge has been completed. And the Government of West Bengal is ready to open the bridge to the public on any day after the 25/11 post issuing the necessary safety certificate by Railways."

Issuing the safety certificate, the railways has "certified that the superstructure, sub-structure and foundation of the newly constructed 4 lane Majerhat Cable Stayed Road over Bridge (ROB) adjacent to Majerhat Railway Station on Diamond Harbour Road are safe to carry the worst combination of dead load, superimposed dead load, live load, wind load..."

The Eastern Railway (ER) has tweeted: "Joint Safety Certificate received from State authority on 27.11.2020 and sent to Commissioner of Railway Safety, Eastern Circle on date after signature of Railway authority. Report of Load Test submitted for Railways information on 24.11.2020."

It has further stated in another tweet: "Regarding construction of Majerhat ROB, Joint Safety Certificate from State PWD has been received by ER on 27.11.2020 and the clearance has been issued on 27.11.2020 itself. Hence, NO DELAY ON THE PART OF RAILWAYS." It has also issued a statement giving facts about the time taken in regards to giving clearances needed for construction of the bridge.

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