CHANDIGARH, Nov 25: Mayor gian chand gupta has sought to know from MC officials the reasons for the change of design in the construction of a bridge on the road connecting Chandigarh to Mohali, near the YPS school.The query followed objections from a councillor and member of the Finance and Contracts Committee, R.K. Aggarwal, who stated that the change of design of the bridge has been done without bringing this to the notice of the House.
Aggarwal, a retired engineer-in-chief, has stated in a note to the MC that even though the 29-member House of the Corporation had approved the construction of a high-level bridge at an estimated cost of Rs 1.71 crore, this has now been converted into a box culvert type bridge at a cost of Rs 65 lakh.
Aggarwal has also sought a thorough probe into the change of design of the bridge after pointing out that the box culvert type bridge was not popular in this area and very few such bridges had been constructed here. He added that the regular bridge would also have more waterway space than the box culvert type, as the waterway space has been reduced to over half now. He also pointed to the high cost of maintenance of the box culvert type bridge.
The councillor has also sought to know whether permission for construction of the bridge has been taken from the Administration or not. Besides, the bridge now proposed would have curves on it which are normally not advisable.
Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.