Despite the claims of the Public Work Department that the road construction works now underway would be finished well before the deadline — that is the maiden snan of the upcoming Ardh Kumbh Mela slated on January 14 — the reality on the ground has a different story.
Given the pace of work that has been going on, it appears difficult to say when the work would be completed, forget even about the January end.
An estimated amount of Rs 1.5 crores has been spent on this road project. Nearly Rs 60 lakhs have been spent to make a four km stretch of Girder bridge while the remaining Rs 90 lakhs spent in erecting the retaining walls in the landslide -prone zone. However, putting on a brave face, the PWD engineers are claiming that the work would be completed well before the first snan of Ardh Kumbh Mela.
It is pertinent to mention here that even during 2010 Kumbh Mela, Rs 3.46 crore had been spent on the construction of the road, but it gave in to rains after the last Kumbh snan of Baisakhi Mela on 14 April. The wire crates made of stones could not have withstood rains of just one season with the stones and pebbles sliding on the road. making it unfit to commute.
During his inspection of the hill by-pass road on Sunday, DIG Kumbh Mela GS Martolia expressed his resentment over the slow speed with which the construction works have been going on. He directed the officials concerned to complete the work before January 1.
Speaking to The Pioneer, Martolia said, “We have directed the workers to speed up the work since the traffic plan would be affected if the same was not completed on time. We hope things would be finished before the Mela begins.”
Executive Engineer, PWD, Mohammad Yusuf told The Pioneer that more than 85 per cent of the road work has been completed. “With the new machinery acquired for hot mixing, the process has picked up speed. There is no reason why the work would not be completed before14 January. We are sure the people who would come here to attend the Mela would be able to use this road. We have engaged 120 men on the project to have the work done on time.”
Asked about the delay in the completion of the project, Yusuf said, “The 21 days’ strike by the Uttarakhand diploma engineers has left an adverse impact on it. The engineers were back on December 19 and since then the work has gathered momentum.”
The importance of the under-construction hill bypass road can hardly be over-emphasized. Once it is completed, it would provide the city an alternative traffic route with the existing ones being inclined to burst on its seams during fairs and fests.
The road is connected to Motichur area via a bridge while traversing through Kharkhari. The vehicles coming from Delhi, Muzaffarnagar and Meerut would be routed to the city through this hill bypass road, evading the jam- laden city areas, during the time of mega congregation.