Mangalore: Fate of Sultan Battery-Tannirbavi footbridge 'hangs' in balance

Brijesh Garodi
Daijiworld Media Network - Mangalore

Mangalore, Jul 31: Various projects get initiated in a grand manner in our district, but as time passes, there seems to have been a long delay in completion due to various reasons. The four-laning of highways and concreting of city roads are a few of these.

The new project that has been started recently and is going on at a snail's pace is the construction of the hanging footbridge across Sultan Battery to Tannirbavi. At present, the road that connects the area is a roundabout one and consumes time. Another means of transport here is the ferry service that is maintained by the Boloor Mogaveera Sabha.

The former government had passed the proposal to construct a hanging bridge, mainly to boost tourism in the region and to help the residents of the region.

The project has been handed over to Yojaka (India) Pvt Ltd (shipping, marine, mechanical, civil, and dredging contractors). The total estimated cost of the project is Rs 12 crore. The construction work on this bridge was started last December, 2012, while plying work was begun in February, 2013. The bridge is supposed to be completed in December 2013, if everything goes as  expected.

The whole of the bridge will stand with the support of 8 metal ropes of 52 mm each, held by two main strong pylon pillars (one on either side) and 8 ramp pillars (four on each side). The total distance from the water level to the bottom of the bridge is approximately 11 meters. The total distance of the hanging bridge is 410 meters of which the main span (above the water) will be nearly 250 meters and the rest will be above the ground. The width is to be 3 meters.

The important thing to be considered here is that even after this being such a wonderful project, the total percentage of work completed as of now is just 10 percent. It is quite obvious that there must be some problem behind the delay in construction.

At present, there is a major problem that the construction company has been facing which is lack of funds.

Speaking to Daijiworld, P Azhagesan, assistant general manager (projects), Yojaka (India) Pvt Limited, says that a fund of Rs 1 crore has already been allotted, but not even a single rupee has reached them. "The filling and piling work has already been started but all the expenses, so far, have been borne by Yojaka. Hence, there is a need to slowdown the project for the time being," he said.
 
"The bridge was expected to be completed by December 2013. But again, at this point of time, if the funds are collected, the team is capable of completing the project at the earliest by April 2014. As there is no road connecting the area, the company has to take some private land on rent to construct a temporary road,"  he said.
 
"The bridge will be built strong enough to support any number of people - either moving or standing - but the movement of vehicles has been completely restricted. Due to the completion of this project, the number of tourists is likely to be increased. No doubt this place will boost the number of tourists and end up being a major tourist hub,"  said Azhagesan.
 
"At present, there are ferry boats on service, but as there are certain timings to these boats, people would rather prefer to have an alternate means of transport. Hence, this hanging bridge would likely help out their needs. But even after the bridge is complete, there will be people who would prefer a ride in the boats as well,"  he said.
 
"For the time being, we have no idea as to whether there will be toll collection at this bridge. But certainly, there will be no toll collection on these bridges. And the worst part is that no people representatives or the government officials have made up their mind to visit the place and have a look at the construction work. Unless there are funds, there is no way we can complete this project in the estimated time,"  added Azhagesan.