Incomplete bridges on PWD ring road to hit mobility during Kumbh

NASHIK: The work of the construction of the bridges on the Godavari near Lakhalgaon and the railway track near Sayyed Pimpri will only be completed in August or even later, jeopardizing its availability for the Kumbh Mela, which commences from July.
Even as the public works department (PWD) claims to have finished over 85% of the 43 works it has undertaken throughout the district, construction of a major road connecting the Mumbai-Agra national highway and the Nashik-Pune national highway just outside Nashik city is not even half complete and it’s unlikely that it will be complete before the religious congregation commences.
“We are carrying out the construction of the 200-m bridge on the Godavari at Lakhalgaon in more than one shift. Even then, we will only be able to finish the work in August,” a PWD official said.
The work of the pillars is nearing completion while that on peers has just started. “We have just completed 50% of the work. The remaining work, however, will take a long time to complete given the nature of the work,” the engineer added.
Similar is the case with road over-bridge on the railway track at Sayyed Pimpri, just 3.3 km from the bridge on the Godavari. The 21.6-km road starts from the ‘10th mile’ near Ozar village in Niphad taluka, passes through Sayyed Pimpri, Lakhalgaon and connects Shinde Palse village on the Nashik-Pune highway. The over-bridge is 6.7km away while the bridge on the river is at a distance of 10 km from the point of origin.
This road happens to be a major road connecting Ozhar and Shinde Palse, thereby facilitating diversion of heavy traffic from outside the city. The 21-km road will in fact cut down the travelling distance of the vehicles by 17km that is undertaken by them at present. Besides, it will be a major relief to the local commuters as the traffic will not have to enter the city.
During Kumbh, the road will be used to divert traffic and will also act as additional space for parking of vehicles as and when required. Another engineer said the delay in land acquisition projects led to the project crossing the deadline. “The farmers were not ready to spare the land. It was after much convincing that they agreed to part with their land. There was another lot of farmers adamant on better remuneration for the land. Finally, they too agreed to the process. All the issues related to land acquisition have now been resolved although some of the farmers are yet to sign the pact,” the official said.
The delay in land acquisition affected construction of the road, due to which, about 10 km of the road is yet to be constructed, apart from building bridges and widening of the road.