In a move to develop the railway tracks under the Gati Shakti scheme and the movement of trains in Guwahati, the Northeast Frontier Railways (NFR) has demolished the 58-year-old Pan Bazar road overbridge and is constructing a new bridge with increased height. The process was expected to take 15 months, but the commuters are facing issues commuting from AT Road towards Pan Bazar and vice versa. However, it now seems like the project will miss the 15-month completion target.
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A source in the NFR, talking to GPlus on the condition of anonymity, said, “The completion deadline is still 15 months, but it might be delayed a bit because of various technical reasons,” adding that the work started in March this year but there were various challenges.
For the demolition and the construction of the new road overbridge (ROB), there were some challenges, according to the official.
There was a Guwahati Municipal Corporation (GMC) water pipeline of 450 mm diameter near the old ROB, which took many days to shifting.
The dismantling of old ROB took many days. The site was cleared, and all dismantled materials were removed. There were many other technical requirements as well.
There were many telecom wires crossing the ROB, which were shifted during dismantling of the old ROB, a process that took many days.
The state government departments involved resolving the challenges were GMC, GMDA, PWD and the city police. “It took time for cooperation and coordination of all the departments,” said the official.
The official said certain equipment is being brought from outside after technical examination, which takes time.
Another issue is that on the AT Road side, there is the headquarters of the Fire and Emergency Safety Services, and the entry to that office cannot be closed, said the official, adding that because of that, the movement of construction vehicles from AT Road side is slow. It adds to the delay in the process.
The budget of the project is ₹50 crore.