Bridge on Yamuna hangs fire

KARNAL: With the delay in constructing a bridge on the Yamuna that will connect Haryana with Uttar Pradesh residents are left with no choice but to cross the river either on foot or in a boat

Updated At : 05:55 AM Jul 09, 2016 IST

An incomplete bridge over the Yamuna river near Shergarh Tapu village in Karnal distrcit on Friday. Once complete, the bridge will connect the state with Uttar Pradesh. Tribune photo: Ravi Kumar

Parveen Arora

Tribune News Service

Karnal, July 8

With the delay in constructing a bridge on the Yamuna that will connect Haryana with Uttar Pradesh, residents are left with no choice but to cross the river either on foot or in a boat.

The UP Government was allotted construction of the bridge, which would have cut travel time between Saharanpur and Karnal, in 2010. The work started in November 2011.

Sources said that 574-meter-long bridge, estimated cost for which was Rs 2,929 lakh, was to be completed in December 2013. But for floods in the Yamuna in June 2013, the project’s deadline was revised to December 2014. To date, the project hangs fire.

The bridge is to start from Shergarh Tapu village in Karnal district, sources said.

Villagers living in the vicinity have their land in Uttar Pradesh. So they have to cross Yamuna every day either on foot or in a boat. And they prefer doing do as the way through Yamuna is a short one. By road, they have to travel around 45 km away to reach their fields.

“In July, August and September, when the fear of floods looms, farmers cross the river risking their lives,” said Sher Singh, a farmer.

“When the project started, villagers hoped for an end to their ordeal of crossing the river. But their hopes were short-lived, as several deadlines elapsed,” said Ram Kumar, another farmer.

Residents demanded that the UP Government completed the project soon.

Liyakat Ali, a contractor of a boat from Shergarh Tapu to Kundakalan village, said: “I charge Rs 10 for a single person and Rs 50 for a person with a motorcycle. Around 130 persons cross the river in a boat every day.”