Eight years on, rickety rail overbridge crying for repairs in Rajkot

RAJKOT: Crying for renovation for years, the railway overbridge on Jamnagar Road is a disaster waiting to happen. However, the work on renovation and converting this narrow bridge into four lane has not begun yet due to the stalemate between Rajkot Municipal Corporation (RMC) and the railway authority.
A meeting between RMC and railway officials was held on Friday in which the civic body urged the latter to approve the new design and get permission from the railway board to start the work.
This overbridge was constructed in 1978 when there was negligible traffic on this road. This bridge, popularly known as Sandhiya Pul witnesses severe traffic jams every day as it connects many new commercial and residential areas. Besides, this road connects the highways leading to Jamnagar, Dwarka, Morbi and Kutch.
RMC has proposed to construct a four-lane bridge and the proposals have been discussed in the civic budget for the last eight years. According to sources, funding was an issue earlier but later the RMC agreed to bear the full cost. However, the railway authorities are delaying the approval of the design.
After the Morbi bridge collapse, RMC prohibited the entry of heavy vehicles on this bridge, which resulted in heavy traffic jams on Raiya Road. Officials said they even have the tender ready for this bridge.
RMC also proposed to make a new underpass on the railway line on Dastur Marg near Astron underpass to deal with peak hours traffic problems.