Abhishek & Vikramaditya
Sri Vijaya Puram, Aug. 20: Mr. Shribash Ch. Das, Zilla Parishad Member of Madhupur and former Adhyaksh of the North & Middle Andaman Zilla Parishad, has urged the Administration to expedite the tender process for the long-pending construction of an RCC bridge across a nallah for the residents of Ward Nos. 5 and 6 of Madhupur village under Diglipur Tehsil.
Speaking to Andaman Sheekha Daily, Mr. Das said that the project has remained pending for nearly four-and-a-half years, while the demand for the bridge itself has existed for several decades. He said that one of the major hurdles in taking up the project was the non-availability of land, and considerable time was required to resolve the land-related issue and complete the process of surrendering the required land.
According to Mr. Das, after the land issue was resolved during his tenure as Adhyaksh of the North & Middle Andaman Zilla Parishad, the estimate for the work was prepared and the matter was processed through the concerned departments. He said that the proposal has also been included in the priority list and the concerned planning process has received approval.
Mr. Das stated that the file is presently being processed at the level of the Chief Engineer’s office and, according to his information, the necessary formalities are largely complete. He said the project now requires the tender to be floated so that construction work can finally begin.
He said he had pursued the matter with the Public Works Department and had also taken it up with the concerned authorities at the Secretariat when the project faced procedural difficulties. He appealed to the APWD to give priority to the long-pending work and initiate the tender process without further delay.
“The land issue, which was the major obstacle, has now been resolved and the project has also received the required planning approval. The tender should now be floated at the earliest,” Mr. Das said.
Andaman Sheekha Daily had earlier reported on the issue in July 2022, highlighting the difficulties faced by residents due to the absence of a bridge over the nallah separating Ward Nos. 5 and 6 of Madhupur village.
Residents had stated that school-going children were facing severe difficulties as the school is located across the nallah, with parts of the school area falling in Ward Nos. 5 and 6. In the absence of a bridge, children have to travel nearly 3.5 kilometres to reach the school, whereas crossing through the proposed bridge would reduce the journey to only a few minutes.
Villagers had also claimed that the nallah is inhabited by crocodiles and that two persons had earlier lost their lives in the water body, making the construction of the long-demanded bridge a matter of urgent public concern.
