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Some British-era bridges in better condition than those built after independence: Parliamentary Panel

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Nimrat Kaur
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Some British-era bridges in better condition than those built after independence: Parliamentary Panel
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Some British-era railway bridges were in a better condition than the ones built after independence, a parliamentary committee report said on Friday, blaming the nexus between officials and contractors for the poor quality of bridges. The Public Accounts Committee which presented its report -- Maintenance of Bridges in Indian Railway -- in Parliament, came down hard on the national transporter and said that the delay in sanctioning bridgework was putting the lives of passengers at risk. "The committee noted that while certain railway bridges constructed during British rule are in good condition, railway bridges constructed or reconstructed after independence are of inferior quality and need frequent repair. "Nexus between railway officials and few contractors severely affect the quality and life of its construction," the report stated. The committee headed by Congress's Mallikarjuna Kharge recommended that the tender for construction or rehabilitation of bridges be done through e-tendering so as to make the system transparent and to attract a large number of reputed and competent construction companies in the tendering process. It also said that companies or contractors who fail to ensure quality and long life of bridges be debarred from participating in future tenders and penalized for it. The committee which based its report on a 2015 CAG report on railway bridges and representations by Railway Board members, expressed its shock that out of the 3,979 bridges works sanctioned by the Railway Board, work on 710 bridges remains to be completed as on March 2015. According to a Railway Board letter in October 2017, the Central Railways has 61 bridges that need repair, East Central Railways has 63, South Central Railways has 41 and Western Railways has 42 bridges pending rebuilding. The committee noted that while the paucity of funds was cited as a reason for the shortfall in achievement of targets for bridge works, the budget grant provided was not utilized to the tune of Rs 60.95 crore per annum. "The committee has desired that a strategic management system is developed for fast-tracking sanction of rehabilitation or reconstruction of bridges within a time frame based on priority for safety", the report stated. The committee also said that the average time taken for the sanction of bridge work was 131 months in North Central Railway, followed by Central Railway (57 months), East Coast Railway (55 months) and South Eastern Railway (54 months). This delay, the committee said, resulted in the continuation of speed restrictions on the bridges which ultimately led to additional operational costs. It also posed a safety hazard with trains running on "technically obsolete bridges".  -
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