Crack in Erra Katta bridge wall posing threat

Crack in Erra Katta bridge wall posing threat
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Highlights

Rail-over-bridge (ROB) constructed on the railway track near Foreman Bungalow, Wynchpet, connecting the Chittinagar and Kedareswara Pet, is posing a major threat to the local residents, particularly the road users. A huge crack was developed on the wall of the bridge causing fear over its safety.

Vijayawada: Rail-over-bridge (ROB) constructed on the railway track near Foreman Bungalow, Wynchpet, connecting the Chittinagar and Kedareswara Pet, is posing a major threat to the local residents, particularly the road users. A huge crack was developed on the wall of the bridge causing fear over its safety.

Local residents fear about its safety and feel it is getting weak year after year as the officials failed to take any safety measures. The RoB was built more than 30 years ago to connect the Old City and new city, i.e., Chittinagar Junction to Kedareswara Pet near the Satyanarayapuram area.

During the last few years, the bridge is extensively used for passing of heavy vehicles during the occasions like Dasara festival, Bhavani Deeksha, Pushkaralu and other important events.Big trees were also grown on the edge of the bridge, thereby weakening the bund.

As the bridge was built more than 30 years ago, local residents are worried about the safety of the bridge. If the bridge suddenly collapses due to passing of heavy vehicles, commuters travelling on the road down the bridge would be crushed to death. Local residents, printed posters and pasted to the wall for many years to attract the attention of the engineers of the roads & buildings and the railway department officials.

The Errra Katta Road is one of the very few roads maintained by the roads & buildings department in the city. During the Krishna Pushkaralu, the roads & buildings department has developed the Erra Katta Road to prevent accidents as the traffic was diverted via Erra Katta for nearly two weeks.

Speaking to The Hans India here on Wednesday, Mohammad Rafi, a local resident of Wynchpet, said the local residents were living in constant fear with the huge cracks surfacing on the wall of the bridge. He said the officials were not taking measures to remove the growing trees which can weaken the bund and structure. If the bridge collapses, a large number of people using the road for travelling between the Old City and new city would suffer as it was one of the nearest and safest routes in the city.

When contacted, superintending engineer Suresh Kumar of the roads & buildings department, said that the officials would inspect the bridge and take appropriate measures to protect it. He said he had sent proposals for the construction of another bridge as the existing bridge was not sufficient with increasing traffic.

By Md Ameen

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