New Gurpur Bridge Opens! All Praise for MP Kateel for His Efforts in Completing the Project In Time
Mangaluru: MP Nalin Kumar Kateel is one lucky man and today is probably one of his happiest days, for all the compliments, kudos and praises he got from his party colleagues, well-wishers and friends, unlike all the bashes and lashes, and mockery on trolls, he received for the delay in Kankanady Pumpwell flyover which took almost ten years to complete. “He is a number one MP”; “He can do things the right way”; “Other leaders should follow his footsteps”; “Completing this bridge with his efforts so early is his BIG achievement”; and lots of other praises were made during the speeches at the inaugural of the newly built Gurpur Bridge.
But in reality, it was the efforts of the project engineer G N Hegde; Contractor Sudhakar Shetty- the proprietor of Mugrody Constructions, Kavoor, Managaluru, and a bevy of NHAI engineers who really did put in their hard work and long hours in making sure the project is completed before the deadline, but unfortunately a third person got the credit. Oh well- it’s okay, and who cares- all that matters to the citizens and motorists, that a nice bridge is completed in a due time, unlike the Pumpwell flyover? Kudos from Team Mangalorean to the really deserved people who made this GURPUR BRIDGE materialize without going beyond the scheduled time. Bravo!
OLD GURPUR BRIDGE…..
The old Gurpur bridge is one of the oldest bridges in Dakshina Kannada built-in 1923. The old bridge was 4.50-meter wide. Though the carrying capacity of the old bridge was good, the bottom portion of the bridge was rusted, and the girders had weakened. Even the iron railings on the bridge had disappeared. The edges of the old bridge were covered with a thick growth of shrubs during monsoon indicating lack of maintenance. The old bridge was so narrow that only one bus or truck could travel on it at a given time and cannot bear the burden of heavy vehicles plying on it. Looking at all the dilapidated condition of the old bridge it as decided to construct a new bridge parallel to it.
It was in February 2019, that MP Nalin Kumar Kateel who had laid the foundation stone for the project and had assured that the bridge will be completed approximately in a year, even though the estimated time for the completion of the bridge was said to take nearly two years by the engineer and contractor. The initial cost of the construction of the bridge was estimated at around Rs 39.4 crore, but due to certain circumstances after completion, the cost incurred is around Rs 4.2 crore. The new bridge is 16m wide with 11m being the carriageway and has 2.5m wide footpaths on either side of the carriageway. Also, the bridge has seven spans with each span 25m wide. The bridge which was supposed to open in February 2020, but due to certain technical and land acquisition issues, and then came the lockdown- but it was not much of a delay in the opening of the bridge today, Friday 12 June 2020 at 11 am.
The new Gurpur bridge is built across the Phalguni river on Mangaluru-Moodbidri-Karkala, NH 169, and it connects with Karkala and is situated 17 km away from Mangaluru. With heavy vehicle movement on this highway, a new bridge was very much needed, and motorists dream has come true with the opening of a brand new bridge, for smooth flow of traffic, unlike earlier it was hard for vehicles to squeeze through on the old bridge. It is learnt that the tender for the project was bagged by Mugrodi Constructions, Mangaluru, who started the work on 21 February 2019. Even though the firm was given time till 20 February 2021 to finish the project, but the contractor did a good job in completing the project much earlier.
And today was the BIG day for the grand inauguration of the Gurpur Bridge, where Dakshina Kannada MP and state BJP president Nalin Kumar Kateel, along with Dakshina Kannada district in-charge minister Kota Srinivas Poojary, and Mangaluru North MLA Dr Bharath Y Shetty, amidst other BJP leaders, project engineer G N Hegde, contractor Sudhakar Shetty, Grama panchayat president U K Ibrahim, MUDA chairman Ravishanker Mijar, Ramesh and Keshav Murthy – both Assistant engineers from NHAI, among others, joined in lighting the lamp, followed by cutting the ribbon- and then taking a walk on newly constructed Gurupur bridge across River Phalguni-Gurupur.
In his welcome address giving tonnes of praises to MP Kateel, Mangaluru MLA North Dr Bharath Shetty said, “MP Kateel did it with all his efforts, which no other politician could have done it. Last year due to someone else’s mistakes MP Nalin got the blame and all kind of criticisms from the opposition party leaders, and public. And now when He has completed this project well before the completion deadline, no one has got the guts to raise their voices or criticize. It’s easy to criticize someone without knowing the facts. The bridge is the big accomplishment of our MP, and it also speaks in volumes of the various projects that BJP will do this year. We all need to compliment MP Nalin Kumar Kateel, the engineer, the contractor, and the NHAI engineers for their efforts in completing this project”.
Also speaking on the occasion Kota Srinivas Poojary said, “Today is the happiest day in my life to grace the inauguration of this 175 meter-long Gurupur bridge which took less than two years, and it has never happened in the past, where a bridge is completed within that time. The credit should go to our energetic MP Nalin Kateel for his efforts, which no other politician can match. He has made this area as Ramarajya, and we can boast and be proud to raise our voice in Rajya Sabha about this accomplishment. I need to learn some ideas and secrets of success from MP Kateel so that I could also succeed in the projects that I will be at the helm”
Also speaking MP Nalin Kumar Kateel said, “At the outset my compliments to Sudhakar Shetty of Mugrody Construction for completing the bridge in time. When the old bridge was getting old and was not safe, NHAI officials alerted us, and I quickly got the funds sanctioned from the Central govt for the new bridge, which was Rs 39.42 crore, but it went beyond that after completion of the bridge. A serious decision to build this Gurpur bridge was taken after the Mularpatna bridge collapsed, and we didn’t want to take a chance depending on the old Gurpur bridge. We are happy that Mugrody Construction took up the gauntlet in undertaking this project and completing it within the time. We should know that Sudhakar Shetty does not belong to any political party, but his motto is to do the projects, keeping quality and timely completion of the project, no matter which party the govt belongs to. We have many projects lined up, among which is the restart of work of Mangaluru- Bengaluru highway”.
The members of the Gurpur grama panchayat felicitated MP Nalin Kumar Kateel, Minister Kota Srinivas Poojary, and MLA Dr Bharath Shetty, while the politicians felicitated the project engineer and contractor, and also the NHAI assistant engineers who handled the project and completed it efficiently and in time. BJP leader Jagadeesh Sheneva compered the programme. A large gathering graced the inauguration ceremony, however, social distancing and wearing face masks were totally neglected.
In conclusion, in my perspective, even after we have seen and heard of repeated incidents of ministers disobeying the COVID-19 guidelines, by not following social distancing and not wearing face masks, and here we have yet another example where social distancing was totally disobeyed, and many were seen without wearing a face mask. We could see handshakes between the guests, and ladies with their arms around the shoulders of their friends, and so on. Is this how our Netas follow the COVID-19 guidelines. When the authorities are dammed strict with citizens organizing a grand occasion or an event, restricting the guests within 50 in numbers- and we are seeing people in hundreds gathered at an event organized by politicians- seems like they are following their old tradition of “We Don’t Follow What We Preach”? Bah humbug! Nothing much could be when our elected representatives themselves break the laws and allow their guests to break the laws at their events.
If Nalin Kumar Kateel was responsible for delay of Pumpwell flyover then only he is responsible for in time completion of this bridge.