Madhya Pradesh seems to have a knack for railway overbridges that end up in the headlines for all the wrong reasons. First came Bhopal's bridge that bent at a sharp 90 degrees, then Indore's Z-shaped railway overbridge, and now Balaghat's Garra railway overbridge has joined the club. The twist this time is that the controversy is not about the shape at all- it is about a basic feature that simply went missing: the footpath.
The bridge got built, the space for walkers did not
The Balaghat-Garra railway overbridge was inaugurated with much fanfare, but it soon emerged that a large stretch of it has no footpath at all. The bridge is roughly 746 metres long. On one hand, removing the railway crossing is set to bring relief to thousands of commuters; on the other, it has created a fresh headache for pedestrians. Along the section without a footpath, school students, the elderly and other passers-by walk through every single day- and they will now be forced to share the road with fast-moving vehicles.
Seen from a distance, this incomplete stretch gives the structure an odd silhouette- as if someone had laid down a cricket bat, with one end tapering off like a thin handle. That is exactly why locals have started slotting it alongside the 90-degree and Z-shaped bridges.
'Waiting for the forest NOC would have taken 25 years'
When the Setu Vibhag's SDO, Arjun Sanodiya, was asked about the missing footpath, his answer raised more eyebrows than it settled. He admitted that the DPR, or detailed project report, had in fact called for a full footpath, but the no-objection certificate from the forest department never came through. According to him, there was pressure to finish the bridge quickly and free the public from traffic snarls, so the footpath was left out on that section. He went so far as to say that had they kept waiting for the NOC, the bridge might have taken up to 25 years to complete.
Officials also argue that the down side of the bridge was finished without a footpath only after written orders from senior officers. The ROB was built using modern technology and a pile foundation, with the aim of ending the traffic mess at the railway crossing. At the unveiling it was hailed as a symbol of development, but the moment construction wrapped up, questions over its quality began to surface. Locals allege that the work on some parts of the bridge does not appear to meet the prescribed standards, and that the facilities pedestrians need are far from complete.
A bigger risk for temple devotees
Right next to the bridge, a Shiv temple stands at Shankar Ghat, where thousands of devotees arrive on foot during the month of Shravan and on Mahashivratri. With no footpath, they will now have to risk their lives walking on the road. Residents point out that crores of rupees were spent to put up the bridge, yet the safety of those travelling on foot has been brushed aside.
MLA absent at the inauguration, alleges protocol breach
The inauguration was attended by district in-charge minister Uday Rao Pratap Singh, MP Bharti Pardhi and local public representatives. Notably, the area's MLA, Anubha Munjare, was not present. She has accused the administration of violating protocol and of ignoring her.
No street light in the DPR, then a jugaad fix
The footpath is not the only slip-up. According to sources, the basic DPR for the Balaghat-Garra ROB did not even mention street lights. Construction went on for months, yet none of the officials in charge noticed that the bridge would need lighting. It was only as the work neared completion and the inauguration date drew close that the realisation finally dawned. Street lights were hurriedly added to the DPR, and tenders for them have only now been floated. For the time being, to prevent accidents at night, the Setu Vibhag has rigged up halogen lamps as a stopgap arrangement.
The in-charge minister's reaction did little to calm things either. He said, ”तब आप लोग ही कहते कि लाइट नहीं लगी. सिर्फ लाइट के चक्कर में उद्घाटन नहीं हुआ. सब लग जाएगा” (You people would then have said the lights weren't installed. The inauguration wasn't held back just for lights. Everything will be put in place). And with that, he walked off without answering the question about the footpath.
Even the name has sparked a fight
The controversy did not end there. The Balaghat municipal council went ahead and named the bridge, putting up a board reading 'Raja Bhoj Railway Over Bridge', and that has touched off a heated debate on social media. Many residents want it renamed the Vainganga Railway Overbridge, or given a name linked to Lord Shankar since it sits close to Shankar Ghat. Others are demanding it be named after the district's philanthropist Mulna, or after Inspector Ashish Sharma, who was martyred during a Naxal operation. Their argument is simple: the bridge was built with the public's tax money, so it should carry the name of someone connected to the nation and its ordinary people.
