The bridge over Garga river. Picture by Pankaj Singh

Bokaro, Oct. 12: A 50-year-old arterial bridge on NH-23, which links the steel city to Chas and also connects Ranchi with Dhanbad, is creaking under the weight of swelling traffic and burgeoning population while the district authorities continue to debate on who should repair it.

The bridge on river Garga was declared unfit and accident-prone in 2002, but it still strains under several hundred tonnes of load daily. Trucks and trailer trucks carrying 40-50 tonnes of metal from Bokaro Steel Limited or coal from BCCL and CCL mines cross the bridge everyday. So, does a few lakh people, including schoolchildren, causing severe congestion for hours at a stretch.

Despite tall promises made by all former chief ministers —from Babulal Marandi to Shibu Soren — work on the dilapidated bridge has remained a non-starter.

Three years ago, then deputy commissioner of Bokaro Amrendra Pratap Singh had requested Bokaro Steel to repair the bridge, but the latter declined, saying it was beyond its jurisdiction.

The district administration on its part put the project on the backburner.

Present deputy commissioner Satyendra Singh said he had banned movement of heavy vehicles on the bridge from 9am to 8pm to curb traffic snarls during peak hours. But that does little to make a bridge with cracking pillars safe for commuters.

Several accidents in the past have spurred residents of Chas to stage a string of protests, demanding immediate repair, but in vain.

Sources said when the bridge was built 50 years ago, the population of Chas was barely a lakh. Today, it has soared to 3.5 lakhs. With the burgeoning population, the number of vehicles plying on the bridge has also increased. But the administration has failed to come up with either a concrete repair plan or a substitute link for the highway bridge, forcing all long-distance trucks and buses to roll over despite risks.

On his maiden visit to Bokaro on September 19, the governor was apprised of the acute problem residents were facing. He has promised to personally look into the matter.