Move to sell Havelock bridge kept in abeyance

The Railway Board’s much-criticised move to sell the Havelock Bridge has been kept in abeyance. Railway Minister Mallikarjun Kharge on Sunday asked board officials to first conduct a proper review.

Congress MP from Rajahmundry Vundavalli Arun Kumar told The Hindu he he had talked to Union Minister for Railways Mallikharjuna Kharge on Sunday and apprised him of the public sentiment against the Board’s decision to dismantle the bridge and sell the steel.

Build-Operate-Transfer
Mr. Arun Kumar said the State government wanted to lease the bridge’s ownership rights under a public private partnership. He said he would speak to the Union Tourism Minister and the Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister to take up the Havelock Bridge as a tourism project under Build-Operate-Transfer system.

Public pressure puts the brakes on railway plan to sell bridge as scrap

Pressure from the public and political parties has forced the Railway Board to keep in abeyance its decision to sell as scrap the 116-year-old bridge across the Godavari here.

Only last week, local MLA R. Suryaprakasha Rao of the Congress issued a statement that he was informed by the General Manager, South Central Railway, of the Board’s decision to dismantle the historic Havelock Bridge and sell the steel as scrap through auction.

Stoutly opposing the decision, political parties have even chalked out a plan of agitation. An all-party meeting, which was not attended by representatives of the ruling Congress, set July 1 as the deadline for the Andhra Pradesh government to make a statement that it would take all steps to protect the bridge.

In the absence of official confirmation, different versions are doing the rounds about the Railway Board’s plans vis-à-vis the bridge. According to one version, the Railways are keen to hand over the bridge to the State government. In a letter to N. Srinivas, president of the Rajahmundry Chamber of Commerce and member of Zonal Railway Consumers Committee, Principal Chief Engineer, Works Division, South Central Railway, Secunderabad, has said: “The Ministry of Railways has decided to hand over the old railway bridge across the Godavari to the State government on fulfilling the conditions of payment by the State government. The State government is yet to accept the terms advised by the Railway Board.”

In April 2010, Vundavalli Arun Kumar, Congress MP, appealed to Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee in Parliament that the Havelock Bridge be converted into an integrated tourism development project. Following this, the Municipal Corporation of Rajahmundry passed a resolution offering to pay Rs.10 lakh as deposit for handing over the bridge. On its part, the State government agreed to pay Rs.1 lakh per annum to the Railways for a 50-year lease. When contacted by The Hindu , Additional Divisional Railway Manager Subbarao, said he had no information about any move to auction the bridge.

Havelock Bridge back in focus again

"National monument status for the grand old structure has been a long-standing demand"

Will the historic Sir Arthur Elibank Havelock Bridge across the Godavari be declared a national monument? The issue, which has been hanging fire for long, has come to the fore again, as Union Minister of State for Railways Kotla Suryaprakash Reddy is going to inspect the bridge on Saturday.

Timeline
For those who have little knowledge about the bridge, a look at the timeline presents some interesting facts. In January 1897, a survey was undertaken in the Godavari Basin to explore the possibility of constructing a bridge across the river by British Chief Engineer F.T.C. Walton. Five acres of land was identified between Kovvuru and Rajahmundry, where water flow was less. A local contractor was tasked with executing the project under the direct supervision of Walton.

The entire consignment of cement needed was brought by ship from England and workers were sourced from Europe and Punjab. A total of 54 spans were laid in an extent of 23,000 square feet. The British government sanctioned an amount of Rs. 50,40,457 for construction of the bridge. The actual expenditure incurred was only Rs. 46,89,849. The morality of the contractor deserves special mention. He had returned the excess amount of Rs.3,50,698.

Governor of erstwhile Madras State Sir Arthur Elibank Havelock opened the bridge to train traffic on August 6, 1900. The Madras Mail between Madras and Howrah was the first train to run on that day.

After serving the Indian Railways for over a century, the bridge was abandoned. When I.K. Gujral was the Prime Minister, president and secretary respectively of the Andhra Kesari Yuvajana Samiti Y.S. Narasimha Rao and Veerla Ravibabu undertook a fast demanding that the bridge be declared a national monument.

Later, when Congress came to power in 2004, MP Vundavalli Aruna Kumar and MLA Rowthu Suryaprakasa Rao took up the issue at the government level. Jakkampudi Rammohana Rao, who was then R&B Minister, took the initiative to make the bridge a tourist spot. The municipal corporation, during the tenure of M.S. Chakravarti as Mayor, passed a resolution expressing its willingness to take up a beautification project. It had even expressed its readiness to pay some amount as lease to the Railways. Later, when Anam Ramnarayana Reddy was Minister for Information and Tourism, Mr. Suryaprakasa Rao took up the issue with him. Mr. Ramnarayana Reddy visited the bridge along with Mr. Aruna Kumar and Mr. Suryaprakasa Rao.

The Minister had then said that the Railway Ministry had agreed to hand over the bridge to the Tourism Department on an annual lease of Rs.1 lakh. Consultants were appointed to construct a pedestrian pathway to enable tourists take a stroll. The Minister had even told the Assembly that the Havelock Bridge would be handed over to the government for maintaining it as a national monument.

It is now up to Mr. Suryaprakash Reddy to make the dream project come true.