Meghalaya Govt. to construct steel bridge along Shillong By-pass, says Dy CM

(By Lamphrang Nongspung)

SHILLONG

Deputy Chief Minister Prestone Tynsong said that the government would construct a subway in the form of a steel bridge along the Shillong by-pass as a temporary measure to restore the smooth flow of traffic.

Replying to the calling attention motion brought by Congress MLA, George B Lyngdoh, on news reports of the cracks on the Dwar Ksuid Bridge in Ri-Bhoi district, Tynsong, also the minister-in-charge of PWD (Roads), said that the proposal to construct the steel bridge had been intimidated to both the Ministry of Roads and Highways and also to the headquarters of the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), in New Delhi.

Tynsong said that the construction of the steel bridge would immediately begin as soon as they approve the proposal.

He, however, added that the reconstruction or realignment of the Dwar Ksuid Bridge would take some time.

The Pynursla legislator also informed that NHAI officials, during the inspection of the Dwar Ksuid Bridge, had conducted non-destructive tests and the same has been sent to Indian Institute of Technology, Guwahati for testing. However, they are yet to release the reports.

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Tynsong also informed that they had diverted heavily loaded trucks to ply through Shillong city, adding that the timing for plying of heavily loaded trucks was fixed from 9:00 pm to 6:00 am daily.

The Ri-Bhoi Deputy Commissioner recently issued an order directing all heavy vehicles above 10 Metric Tonnes (MT), going towards and coming from Jaintia Hills, to ply via Shillong city with immediate effect because of the development of cracks on Dwar Ksuid Bridge, Umroi on Shillong by-pass.

The permissible load to ply above the bridge is now below 10 MT.

On the Umiam Dam bridge, Tynsong informed that the life span of the bridge was more than 50 years, but vehicles plying through the bridge should not exceed 40 metric tonnes.

Earlier, George Lyngdoh had stated that the Umiam bridge is subjected to a lot of pressure and cautioned that a hairline crack on the bridge might lead to catastrophic consequences.

Lyngdoh added the life span of the bridge was an issue as all the trucks were plying over the bridge daily due to the Dwar Ksuid bridge being under repairs.

Lyngdoh blamed the Transport Department for its failure to check the plying of overloaded trucks which ultimately led to cracks developing on the Dwar Ksuid bridge.

(Edited by Andre Kongri)