According to the officials, the repair work, that started on November 25, was to be completed within a month’s time.

Only a single lane of traffic on the bridge is being presently allowed to move during the repair work. While the passers by are facing a lot of difficulty, the PWD (B and R) officials say work could take as much as 12 more days to get over.

“The 250 metre-long Ghaggar bridge on National Highway 23 is being repaired. Of the total seven gap slabs of the bridge, two of them have to be completely replaced. Though the slab on one side of the bridge has been changed, work on one on the other side is underway. Hence, the bridge will have to be completely closed once again on January 12 and 13,” said a senior official of the PWD (B and R) on anonymity.

He added the casting and concreting work after that would take a further week’s time.

The official said the entire work could have been completed in a short span of 15 days, had the bridge been completely closed. But since this is the main bridge leading to several other places and especially towards Himachal, the movement of only a single lane of traffic was allowed.

“Working on a live road makes the work difficult and leads to delay. But as half of the work has been done, all of it would be completed by January 20. Also, while the bridge would be completely closed, the alternative route from Sector 21 Ghaggar bridge would be used,” added the official.

A traffic police official on duty said the PWD (B and R) officials have been claiming the bridge would be opened soon for the past one week now. But work still seems to be going on.