Bharuch: Sardar bridge reopens for heavy vehicles, BJP to agitate if toll tax is reintroduced

Bharuch, 19 December 2013

After one and half year long repairing work, Bharuch district’s Sardar bridge on river Narmada has been reopened on Wednesday.

The bridge is reopened for heavy vehicles after a gap of five years.

The bridge connects Ahmedabad and Vadodara to Surat and Mumbai on India’s busiest national highway. It was constructed in 1977 by Gammon company through a technology that has been used only in three bridges in India.

In year 2000, L&T had built a parallel bridge next to then existing Sardar bridge.

Due to damage in joints and other structural damages, heavy vehicles were banned on Sardar bridge. In 2012 December, the state government handed over the bridge to National Highway Authority of India(NHAI).

With local BJP MLA Dushyant Patel led agitation and Rajya Sabha MP Ahmed Patel’s intervention, the bridge has been repaired now at a cost of Rs. 30 crore. It was tested for small vehicles on 5 December and heavy vehicles from 10 December. After testing reports turned positive, the bridge has been reopened for all kinds of vehicles upto three axles. The bridge will be opened for four axles vehicles in near future.

Meanwhile local BJP MLA Dushyant Patel has threatened agitation if toll tax is reintroduced at Zadeshwar. He said the central govt has collected enough toll tax in 11 months prior to repairing of the bridge.