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8 Dehradun, 27 March, 2012 Uttarakhand

Bridge of Hope Collapses:Tragedy of Chauras

By ANNPURNANAUTIYAL

It may sound weird, but thecollapse of the Chauras bridge

has shattered the dreams andhopes of one and all who livein the small Alaknanda valleyof Srinagar Garhwal. It was notan ordinary bridge whichaimed to link Chauras, locatedon the right bank of RiverAlaknanda, to Srinagar, it wasalso linked to the future ofthousands of students, teachersand people of Srinagar andChauras, both. The dreams ofdeveloping HNB GarhwalUniversity’s Chauras Campusas a centre of higher educationand excellence are now deeplyshattered by the collapse of thislinking bridge in the wee hours.The death of at least sixlabourers working day andnight to bring the people’s hopesand dreams alive lost their lifein the unfortunate tragedy. Thishas increased the problems forthe local villagers, students andfaculty and their families of theUniversity immensely, becausethe other approach roads aretotally inaccessible because ofthe ongoing construction of theSrinagar Dam, as these havebeen rendered into bumpy,muddy and virtuallynonexistent roads. Travelling onthese roads can be risky andensure the onset of spinal andback problems. This bridge wasa sign of hope and everyonewas longing for the last so manyyears for its completion.

Every morning hundreds ofstudents trudge the distance toChauras campus over ahanging bridge which is the onlysource of connectivity for thetwo campuses of the HNBGarhwal University. Theirpassage over this bridge is alsofull of risk as this is a verynarrow bridge constructed toprovide a foot link to the nearbyvil lages located across the

bridge, but since the Universityundertook its expansion plansat Chauras, this bridge emergedas the only source forpedestrians and even for thepeople riding two wheelers. TheChauras bridge became avirtual necessity for theUniversity to realise itsexpansion plans, but itscollapse during the last phaseof its construction has put abreak on future plans.

Surprisingly, this was onlya small bridge with a span of190 metres, but had taken morethan eight years to reach thefinal stage and, ironically,before its completion it hascollapsed. Uttarakhand wascreated to fulfill the dreams ofdevelopment of the area andthe people, but the disastrouscollapse of the bridge exposesthe lackadaisical approach ofthe government, administrationand the agencies in the nameof development. The apatheticattitude of the officials andpoliticians towards the hil lareas and making developmenta poli t ical agenda andpoli t icised word is alsoresponsible for such a callousapproach. The major part ofmoney for the bridge wassanctioned during the NDArule by the former ChiefMinister of Uttarakhand in hiscapacity as the Union SurfaceTransport Minister in 2003.However, as Uttarakhand was

under Congress rule during2002 to 2007, therefore, theCongress government initiallydid not take much interest inits construction because of thefeeling that the completion ofthis bridge in t ime wouldprovide an edge to the BJP inthe area. The poli t ics ofdevelopment between BJP andthe Congress not only delayedthe construction of the bridge,but on account of this, all theother processes also gotdelayed. The lack ofmonitoring, the structural andtechnical faults, theincompetency of the agencyresponsible for its construction,the lacunae in design clearlyindicates the apathetic attitudeand lack of control over suchagencies of the government.

The Chauras Bridge wasalso considered a dreamproject of BC Khanduri, the ex-Chief Minister of Uttarakhand,but when he was asked aboutthe this bridge, he was alsofound disgusted with theconstruction agency andopined that God alone couldtel l when it would becompleted. It is a sad story andequally depressing state ofaffairs for a new and youngstate like Uttarakhand in whichthe chief of the state has nocontrol over its affairs. Whatcould be more ironical for thepeople when they see thehelplessness of the chief of the

state? Why are good agenciesnot selected while giving out thecontract for construction ofsuch projects? The formality ofhigh level inquiry after suchtragedies just appears to be aneye-wash to cover the lacunaein governance. We have yet toget examples where someagencies were punished onaccount of the cal lousapproach or accountability isfixed for the damage or poorquality of construction.

This allows one to ponderwhy the developmentalprojects in the hill areas takeso long. Is development ataboo or jinxed for the hill areasthat people have to alwayssuffer such a fate and theagencies make merry at thecost of the people? On the onehand, we have examples of theDelhi metro changing the faceof travel in Delhi within a spanof 10 years and providing anexample of technologicaladvancement, competence,t ime management anddedication, but on the other thecollapse of the Chauras bridgereveals the state ofdevelopment and its quality inthe hills in the 11 years of itsinception. The poor conditionand upkeep of roads makes itmore difficult for the people totraverse in the hill areas due towhich no sane person would liketo be posted in these areas.Though every year before 31

March, the drama of improvingthe condition of the roads isperformed but withoutcoordination with otheragencies like water works orpublic works department orelectricity ortelecommunication departmentwhich start laying of the pipesor cables as soon as theformality of repairing the roadsis completed. Such waste ofresources is a crime and theagencies responsible for it needto be punished, as it is people’smoney which is wasted.

This can happen in Indiaonly where such agencies gounpunished for the crime ofplaying with the money andsometimes with the life ofpeople, as had this bridge withfaulty construction and designcollapsed once it was openedfor the public, the magnitudeof tragedy could have beenanyone’s guess. The localpeople had several timespointed out the poor quality ofconstruction, delays and laxattitude of the constructioncompany and when, during thelaunching of the bridge, itsstructure got tilted, people’sapprehension became a reality,but to cover it up theconstruction agency played withwords and assured that it wasjust a technical snag that wouldbe removed. Had theconstruction agency actedprofessionally and paid attentionto eradicate its faults in timesuch mishaps could have beenaverted and the bridge couldhave seen the light of day. Theloss of time and resources insuch kind development workneeds to be condemned by oneand all and it is high time thatthe state government act fastand allow people to dream fora good future.

The people of Uttarakhandat this grim and agonisingmoment need some divineintervention to remove the jinxfrom the Devbhumi ofUttarakhand and plead forHanuman and his Vanar Senato rebuild the Chauras bridgeas they laid the mythical RamSetu, as we have lost faith inthe prevailing rotten systemof governance.

(Dr Annpurna Nautiyal, aFulbright Scholar, is a Professorof Political Science, HNBGarhwal University, Srinagar,Garhwal.)