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Nitish Sharma
The approach road to the Kali Platoon Railway Bridge in Ambala Cantonment has not been repaired for the past 10 months and is closed for traffic. In October last year, a small section of the approach road had caved in and since then it had been blocked with barricades, poles and stones.
The portion of the road caved in after soil along its retaining wall was removed. During inspection, a Railway official had also mentioned a technical fault in the foundation of the approach road as the prime reason behind the damage caused. The district administration has asked the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) several times to repair the road but the work is yet to start.
The approach road links another road, besides the Ambala-Chandigarh National Highway with the Kali Platoon Bridge that connects the two parts of Ambala Cantonment. The bridge, tactically and strategically important for the Indian Army and the Indian Air Force, dates back to the British era. It was reopened in December last year after remaining closed for three years.
The bridge was declared unsafe over a decade ago and was closed for modification. The bridge crosses over the Ambala-Delhi National Highway and railway tracks in Ambala Cantonment. The work on the bridge began in November 2015. The Railways had planned to get it modified within nine months but due to the lack of coordination between various departments and several technical issues, it took three years to complete.
Karan Aggarwal, a local resident, says, “The Kali Platoon bridge is an important link for thousands of people, including students of Kendriya Vidyalaya number-3, residents of Railway Colony, several villages, employees of Railways and the canteen department depot. In the absence of this link, people have to travel 5 km extra to reach their destinations. Fortunately, the bridge has become operational but still people are forced to travel 500 to 700 metres extra to reach it as the approach road from the highway is closed”.
Ajay Baweja, vice-president of the Cantonment Board Ambala, says, “It is an important road and the National Highways Authority of India should get it repaired at the earliest. The bridge had remained closed for three years. It has reopened now but the approach road is not available due to which commuters have to take a long route to reach the bus stand and the railway station”.
An NHAI official in Ambala says, “A tender has been floated for the road repair at a cost of Rs 1.50 crore. The repair work will start soon”.
Deputy Commissioner Sharandeep Kaur Brar says, “I have asked NHAI officials to get the road repaired at the earliest and they have assured us of starting the work soon”.
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