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Rs 77 cr Bikram Chowk yover full of bumpy drive,

prone to accidents; technically defective
By Daily Excelsior - 27/05/2017

New Bikram Chowk - Gandhi Nagar flyover with bumpy drive in Jammu. -Excelsior/ Rakesh

*Hired consultancies paid whopping Rs 30 cr for ERA projects

Gopal Sharma
JAMMU, May 26: The much publicized Bikram Chowk-Gandhi nagar Flyover project , which was inaugurated by Chief
Minister Mehbooba Mufti on May 6, has become the ‘talk of the town’ here as the bumpy drive on this new yover,
constructed with the whopping cost of Rs 77 crore by ERA, has raised serious questions on the `quality’ of work
executed and the `capability’ of some people connected with this project.

The tax payers of the State are feeling duped by the people at the `helm of a airs’ as their hard earned money has not
been properly utilized. Leave aside a technical person or an engineer pointing out the technical defect in construction,
even a common man of the city is also not happy with the quality of work executed on this yover project. They feel
that a speeding vehicle on this yover may cause accidents and for this the rm involved in the construction and the
agency o cials should be penalized.
The drive on the other already constructed yovers in the city at BC Road, Jewel Chowk and Bus Stand areas is very
smooth. But this new yover from Bikram Chowk to Gandhinagar has apparently been found technically defective and
unsound. Even the elevations at both ends are not smooth and correct, they maintained.
Sources in the R&B Department told the Excelsior that ERA sanctioned this 1.3 kms long yover project worth Rs 77
crore to Maharashtra based rm, Balecha Constructions Pvt Ltd, having expertise in the eld. This rm took its share
and sub-let the work to a Kashmir based rm United Jhelum Road and Builders, having no much expertise in the eld.
While the top ERA o cials claimed that this project is tie-up between the Balecha Constructions of Mumbai and
Kashmir based rm but the naked truth is that this entire project was completely handled by the Kashmir based rm,
having top political connections and the top ERA o cials did not raise any objections to it.
Interestingly, the ERA has engaged two Consultancies IPE Global, Delhi and CDS Smith, Bangalore for technical support
and quality management and look after other aspects of this yover project besides several other projects in Jammu.
They were paid Rs 30.69 crore by the ERA for their services. They too, are equally responsible for the defect that has
surfaced in the construction of this yover project.
Retired Chief Engineer R&B, MM Sharma when contacted for his expert comments on it said that this new yover from
Bikram Chowk to Gandhi Nagar de nitely has technical problem. Any body can feel it while passing over this yover.
He said old yovers in Jammu city have been constructed by the UP Construction Corporation and one can see the
quality of work.
Sharma, who remained associated with the construction of these old yovers in Jammu city for long, further said that
vehicle faced jumps at the expansion joints. “If it goes on like this and not repaired, the bearings under the joints will
get damaged even within few months. Then it will take hard labour and much time to lift the joints and replace the
bearings. Both joints should have been smooth and well balanced and there is problem at most of the expansion
joints. These things should have been noticed during construction by the engineers and consultants given the task.
Even the elevations are not satisfactory, Sharma maintained.
Another technical expert in the eld, retired Chief Engineer R&B, KK Arora expressed his unhappiness over the quality
of work executed on this yover. He said there is certainly some defect as joints of the spans are not smooth. The
agency and the rm involved in the construction should be taken to task and ERA must also x responsibility on the
consultancies hired from outside the State for this purpose. It was their responsibility as well to check the quality or
work and other technical aspects. They are heavily paid for it. He said there is still scope to remove these shortcomings
and the rm should be asked to do it immediately, Arora added.
Chief Executive O cer, ERA, Vinod Sharma, when contacted said that this project worth Rs 77 crore was allotted to
Balecha Constructions of Maharashtra and they later had some tie-up with Kashmir based rm. He said the ERA has
paid money to the tune of Rs 56 crore so far. IPE Global Consultancy was paid Rs 13.57 crore for this project and some
other projects here while CDS Smith was paid Rs 17.22 for their consultancy services for this yover and some other
projects.
He said the ERA Executive Engineer, Shakti Sagar was connected with this whole yover project and immediately after
its inauguration, he left for Srinagar with Darbar Move the next day. He could not nd time to have drive over it.
Sharma said Sagar was supervising the project and he can give the whole details and aspects of technical problem
being felt. He further said that one year delay in the project was due to delay in land acquisition, court stay by a private
party and damage caused to 4th Tawi Bridge from there spans had to be transported.
The CEO claimed that he would get this yover examined from the consultants and the faults recti ed from the
concerned rm. When asked if this project was allotted to Balecha then why the Kashmir based rm having no
expertise was allowed to undertake the whole work, the CEO said as per contract agreement, they went ahead with the
work. Moreover, the Bombay rm provided most of the machinery and some manpower as well. He claimed that faults
will be removed shortly. On the issue of taking action or any penalty on the rm or the consultancies, the CEO
remained non-committal.

Daily Excelsior
https://www.dailyexcelsior.com/

The Leading Daily of Jammu and Kashmir , India

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