Shillong, Feb 6: The Meghalaya government on Tuesday informed that the repair work of the Umiam bridge will take anything between three to four months and in the meantime consultation with the coordination committee comprising of the various line department is being held to finalise on the total closure of the bridge to lift a part of the bridge for repair works.
“We are working and we have asked the company to give a tentative date but before that we need to take some call among ourselves also. We have coordination committee comprising MeECl, transport department, district adminsitration of both the districts and the police. We will take a call on the lifting,” said Power Minister A T Mondol.
Informing that the repair will take three to four months to complete, he said that earlier there were less number of bow drills but now more have been acquired and it is expected that this will expedite the process of the repair work.
Pointing out that currently only small vehicles are allowed to play, he said, “On the day the bridge will be lifted, we will go for a complete closure till it is lifted to the required position”.
“We will put ramps on both sides of the bridge to allow small vehicles with gross weight not exceeding 4 metric tons to pass,” he added.
He further said, “Similarly on the day we will lower the bridge after replacing the bearing, no vehicles will be allowed to pass through the dam”.
Talking about the alternative route, he said, “It is the only road and traffic is there and some are taking de- tour”.
Pointing out that on normal days also the problem of traffic persists and now that the repair work is on y traffic congestion will surely be there.
He however said that proper monitor is being done to ensure the traffic jam is minimised as much as possible.