Delay in Saran bridge repair irks commuters

CHHAPRA: Commuters travelling from Chhapra to Patna are a harassed lot due to the unusual delay in repairing of one of the oldest bridge known as Patti pul over river Mahi connecting Dighwara and Shitalpur in Saran district on NH- 19.
Movement of heavy vehicles, including trucks and buses have been banned on the bridge with effect from January 21, and movement of small vehicles including cars has also been stopped from last Friday causing huge harassment to the commuters.
Trucks and buses now take the Shitalpur-Parsa-Bheldi route to come to Chhapra from Patna and vice- versa, while small vehicles too are forced to take another diversion.
“Most of the traders now prefer to make purchases at Chhapra by paying more money owing to restrictions on vehicular movement on Patti Pul,” said a Dighwara resident Amit Kumar.
This is not for the first time that traffic on this bridge has been suspended for safety reasons. Traffic on the bridge was suspended for repairing around a decade ago as well. Moreover, construction of an alternative bridge parallel to the existing bridge was also taken up and some pillars were also erected. But the work was left midway.
“Construction of another bridge is in progress with the four-laning of NH-19, which will take minimum six months time to complete,” said the project head of Madhucon Construction Company, Md Shabri. Saran DM Subrat Kumar Sen has also asked the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) officials to complete the bypass road near NH-19 latest by the end of this month.