Residents find fault with RoB design in Kakinada

Kakinada: The railway over bridge (ROB) is being constructed without observing future consequences and the designing and also the construction quality is very low, said the residents of the Ramaraopeta area.

The foundation stone was laid for construction of the ROB in 2008, but the design was approved in 2012. The Railway authorities have already constructed bridges on their part. According to officials, the estimated cost of the ROB is Rs 65 crore and the Central government has to reimburse Rs 8.8 crore. The State government has already paid more than Rs 45 crore including for the land acquisition.

According to sources, the design of the bridge has been changed two times and now the construction towards Nageswara Rao Street (Ramaraopet side) is creating concerns among residents.

The officials reduced the number of pillars of the bridge and maintained a steep slope which will cause more accidents in future. Some experienced civil engineers also suggested to the Roads and Buildings department officials that the work should not continue unless the design is changed.

The authorities are constructing the bridge by building a long wall without pillars. Due to the construction there will be no space left. The apartment owners and house owners are expressing worry about the possible future consequences.

A resident V Ramesh Kumar opined that the bridge was not constructed in a straight manner but in a zigzag manner causing inconvenience to people. He alleged that it is not properly designed and demanded the revision of the plan to make people comfortable while crossing the bridge.

He said that there is no parking place and it becomes difficult for ambulances and other emergency vehicles to cross the bridge. He said that the officials have changed the design many times with little impact.

Former director of Godavari Urban Development Authority Gatti China Satyanarayana wrote a letter to the Chief Engineer of R&B department of Amaravati recently stating that the flyover construction might be the most advantageous to the general public. He said that due to the acquisition almost all the residents have lost their parking places on their premises, consequently they are parking their motor vehicles in front of their houses. He said that once the residents start parking their vehicles on the road in front of their houses the carriage way will be reduced leading to inconvenience to the movement of vehicles like ambulances, fire tenders and other emergency vehicles are drastically affected consequent to many serious accidents.

He observed a solid embankment road is being constructed in between Velamurivari street and cement road. It is the right time to think for a while to make use of this space for parking of vehicles and mainly to take turns of emergency vehicles.

R&B department AE P Bala Chakravathry told "The Hans India" that he didn't accept views of the residents. "We are strictly following the design approved by the government. He said that there is no flaw in the design of the bridge. He said that there is space of five and half metres on both sides. He said that these service roads are wider than the other two bridges in the Kakinada Smart City. He further expressed that there is neither political pressure nor any compulsion made by vested interest. "We are waiting for the release of Rs 7 crore in order to complete the ROB by the end of February, 2022."

He said that the contractor assigned with the ROB work has to be paid Rs 2 crore and the same will be paid very shortly. The balance of the amount will be paid by both Central and State governments very shortly and it is stated the bridge will be completed by the end of February, 2022.