If project executed on time,new bridge should have been up by March

Documents obtained under the RTI Act by Mahadev Kamble,a resident of Shirwal,show that the project to make the road a six-lane stretch,the contract for which was given to a private company in 2010,was to be completed by March 31,2013. And while the under-construction new bridge can be seen adjacent to the two existing bridges,the entire project is stuck due to hurdles in acquisition of land and clearances from the forest department.

According to Kamble,“The RTI reply shows that between 2005 and 2008,there have been about 250 accidents on the road between Chandni Chowk and Karad. It was made a four-lane road in 2004-05 but much of the work under that project too is still incomplete. The six-laning project has been delayed and the contractors are learnt to have paid crores of rupees as penalty for the delay,after missing the deadline twice. In fact,a new deadline of December 31 has been given to the contractor. However this too may not be met.”

Kamble alleged that the construction of barricades along the bridge at the accident spot was included even in the tender document for the 2004 project,but was left incomplete by the agency.

NHAI project manager Rajesh Koundal said the “six-laning project should take minimum one year and a half from now. There are interlinked issues that have caused the delay.”

NHAI officials said out of a total 56 structures that were to come up on the Pune-Satara stretch,only 17 had been completed so far. Kountal,however,said the completion of the project and the circumstances in which the accident seemed to have taken place were two different issues. “There is no connection. There has been no accident on this specific spot earlier. I will be discussing the matter (about the bridge) with safety consultants,” he added.