PIONEER EDGE NEWS SERVICE/ Dehradun
The workers of Uttarakhand Congress held a protest at Nanda ki Chowki on Tuesday to vent their anger at the collapse of the approach road of the newly constructed bridge over the Tons River on Tuesday.
The Congress workers led by vice president Suryakant Dhasmana raised slogans against the State government and demanded resignation of Public Works Department (PWD) minister Satpal Maharaj. They also demanded that FIR should be registered against the engineers and contractors involved in the construction of the bridge.
Addressing the workers, Dhasmana said, “The BJP government in the State is immersed neck-deep in corruption. The bridge over the Tons River got damaged during monsoon last year and it took a full year to rebuild it at a cost of Rs 16 crore. It was reopened only 16 days ago and now a major portion of it has collapsed again. If this is the condition in the State capital, one can well imagine the condition of roads and bridges in the remote areas of the State.” He said that over 200 link roads in both Garhwal and Kumaon divisions are blocked due to which villagers are unable to access health centres and other areas.
Dhasmana said that the school buildings are in a dilapidated state and many schools have no access roads. The condition of State highways and national highways is also very poor.
Later in the day a delegation of the party met chief secretary Anand Bardhan and submitted a memorandum. The memorandum demanded immediate repair and reconstruction of all dilapidated roads, bridges and link roads across the State, and a high-level inquiry into the Premnagar bridge collapse case.
