Shimla: A steel bridge will soon be built at a cost of Rs 12 crore in place of the 100-year-old historic Red Bridge in Pandoh of Mandi Sadar area of Himachal Pradesh.
For this, the Public Works Department, Thalaut Mandal has sent an estimate of Rs 12 crore to the state government. Currently, a temporary suspension bridge is being built to connect Pandoh market with Badar area.
The 100-year-old Red Bridge of Pandoh had collapsed due to the severe floods on July 9 and 10 this year.
Due to the breakdown of this bridge, contact with a dozen panchayats of Badar area of the Drang assembly constituency has been cut off.
People of Badar and Pandoh Bazaar area have appealed to CM Sukhwinder Singh, Public Works Department Minister Vikramaditya Singh, and MP Pratibha Singh that the government should release funds for the construction of the bridge as soon as possible, so that the bridge can be built soon.
Due to the absence of the bridge, thousands of people of a dozen panchayats of the Badar area are facing problems and have to travel an additional five kilometers to reach Pandoh.
Especially the employees, school, and college goers and those commuting for daily work are facing more problems.
Due to the collapse of the bridge, the business of the Pandoh market has also come to a standstill as the number of people visiting the market has reduced considerably. This is the reason why the people of Pandoh are strongly pleading to start the construction of this bridge as soon as possible.
On the other hand, Vinod Sharma, Executive Engineer, Public Works Department, Thalaut, said that as soon as the funds are approved, the tender process will be started.