A Dainik Bhaskar investigation claims Ujjain's new ₹64.99-crore bridge was shifted nearly 100 metres and tilted by 35 degrees instead of being built parallel to the existing Wakankar Bridge.
The report alleges the alignment was changed to avoid affecting private land owned by influential individuals, resulting in the bridge landing in the middle of a ₹2.5-crore Smart City parking lot and increasing inconvenience for commuters.
While some officials did not respond to the allegations, Ujjain Smart City CEO acknowledged the issue had been discussed, and Setu Nigam Chief Engineer Gopal Singh said he would inspect the project before commenting.
A NEW BRIDGE is being constructed in Ujjain, Madhya Pradesh, but a recent report by Dainik Bhaskar has brought the project under scrutiny. According to the investigation by Dainik Bhaskar, the new bridge was supposed to be built parallel to the existing Wakankar Bridge in Ujjain. However, the bridge was not constructed as originally planned.
Instead, the bridge has been tilted by nearly 35 degrees from its original alignment. While the starting points of both bridges remain connected, the end of the new bridge has been shifted nearly 100 metres away from the end of the Wakankar Bridge. According to Dainik Bhaskar, this change was made because, if the bridge had been built parallel to the existing one, the land of some influential people would have been affected.
The new bridge is 240 metres long and 12 metres wide. The estimated cost of constructing the bridge is ₹16.7 crore, while the total project cost, including the approach roads, is ₹64.99 crore. The bridge is an important infrastructure project that will connect Harifatak Square with the Indore Ring Road.
Dainik Bhaskar investigated why the bridge alignment was changed. According to a retired senior engineer interviewed by the newspaper, almost all newly built bridges in Ujjain have been constructed parallel to the existing ones. He questioned why this bridge was built differently despite the several problems that could arise from the altered alignment.
Dainik Bhaskar also spoke to local residents and construction workers to understand the reason behind the change.
According to them, the alignment was changed because some influential people owned private land adjacent to the existing bridge. Rather than verifying these claims, officials allegedly altered the bridge alignment. One end of the bridge was shifted nearly 100 metres from the original plan. The investigation alleged that officials of the Setu Nigam changed the alignment to protect the private land.
According to the Dainik Bhaskar investigation, the altered bridge alignment is likely to create several problems for commuters and the surrounding infrastructure.
The first issue is that, instead of affecting the land of influential people, the bridge will now descend into the middle of a parking lot that was built four years ago. The parking facility was constructed under the Smart City project at a cost of ₹2.5 crore. With the bridge landing in the middle of the site, only limited space will remain for vehicle parking.
Apart from this, commuters travelling from Harifatak Square to the Indore Ring Road may also face inconvenience. Due to the nearly 100-metre shift in the bridge alignment, the distance between the up and down ramps has increased, making travel between the two routes longer.
The investigation also claims that the altered alignment has increased the construction cost. According to the retired senior engineer quoted by Dainik Bhaskar, if the bridge had been built according to the original plan, around ₹1 crore to ₹1.5 crore could have been saved. He also stated that under the original alignment, only a 10 to 15-foot portion of the parking area would have been affected instead of the bridge passing through the middle of the parking lot.
When Dainik Bhaskar tried to investigate the reason behind the change in the bridge alignment, it approached the officials involved in the project. "The officers had no answer to this change," the report said.
P.S. Pant, the Executive Engineer of the Setu Nigam Bridge Corporation, was contacted but remained silent on the matter. After several attempts, he answered the phone and said he was in a meeting. According to the report, he never called back. Dainik Bhaskar also contacted him on WhatsApp, but the messages remained unanswered.
Sandeep Shiva, CEO of Ujjain Smart City, said that the issue of the bridge landing in the parking lot had been raised during a meeting. However, according to him, the Bridge Corporation said there were technical issues related to the bridge's elevated structure. Shiva added that since large-scale construction work was already underway at the time, they chose not to question the decision further. He also said that the Smart City administration is now looking for a new location for the parking facility because of the bridge construction.
The Chief Engineer of Setu Nigam, Gopal Singh, also responded to the report, saying that he would visit Ujjain to inspect the construction. He said he was not aware of the issue and that the matter had not been brought to his notice. He added that he would be able to comment only after visiting the site, gathering information and inspecting the under-construction bridge.
(Edited by Harsh Pandey)
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