Imlisanen Jamir
When a part of the Old Nagarjan Bridge in Dimapur began collapsing to one side on Sunday, it shouldn’t have come as any surprise.
Badly damaged since last year, and despite repairs being done on it sometime later; commuters in the town had been playing a dangerous game while driving over the unsafe structure.
While the bridge was closed off for heavy vehicles, crossing the bridge even in a light vehicle was a gamble. The huge indentation in the middle; the non-existent railings on both sides; and the memories of the Chathe Bridge disaster last year; all made for a terrifying experience. And who can forget that ‘Cross at your own risk’ signboard put up at either end of the bridge during the summer.
And yet, the flow of traffic across the bridge over the past few months had increased considerably. This, despite the terrible road linking one end of the bridge to the National Highway. One of the main reasons for this was the consequence of the ongoing four lane road works at NH-29 leading up to Dimapur Town.
With earth cutting works still in progress, the already deplorable national highway road has become even worse. As a result of which the traffic in this notorious stretch has slowed down even more, especially during peak hours.
As so, commuters were left with a choice; travel over a riverbed-like national highway with even worse traffic; or take a slightly smoother river-bed with less traffic, but cross a bridge which could collapse anytime. Many chose the latter. So perhaps, the partial collapse of the Nagarjan Bridge is a good thing. Fortunately no one was hurt when the recent breakage commenced.
On detection of the large cracks, the Dimapur district administration was prompted to put a total ban on any vehicular traffic on the bridge.
The Deputy Commissioner informed that the district administration, aided by technical personnel has “inspected the developing cracks formed on the approach road due to the ongoing construction of the new bridge for the Nagarjan bridge and has adjudged it to be unsafe for public use.”
In view of the “danger” presented by the situation, he informed that “a total ban on vehicular traffic on the bridge is hereby imposed for precautionary measures with immediate effect and travellers are requested to take alternate routes until further notice.”
Traffic over it should never have been allowed, considering the condition of the bridge, but its better late than never. The closure of the bridge is a welcome move to avoid any tragedies, but people of the town need to prepare themselves for longer hours on the roads.
Given that there is no sign of any of the under-construction bridges being even close to completion; and combined with the worsening condition of the main highway, this is going to be one long winter.
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