Finally, Gamber river bridge on Subathu-Kunihar road completed

After much-delay, a critical bridge over the Gamber river on the Subathu-Kunihar road has finally been completed.

A faulty design and unresolved land acquisition issues had put the work on the bridge on hold though nearly 90 per cent of it was completed months ago. The bridge could not be connected to the other side due to a 25-metre elevation difference and the presence of private land at the construction site. This had delayed its completion.

The Public Works Department (PWD), which was executing the work through a private contractor, took months to resolve these issues as the private landowner, whose three bighas fell in the construction zone, had moved court to ensure proper land acquisition. Following the court orders, the land acquisition process was initiated some months ago and a mutual agreement was arrived at between the revenue and the Public Works Department.

Gurminder Rana, Executive Engineer, Public Works Department (PWD), said that the bridge over the Gamber river was completed three days ago. Issues like design flaws had also contributed to the delay in its completion. The contractor had earlier submitted two designs to join the bridge with the other end but they were not accepted. A third design was then worked out which finally found the favour of the PWD’s design wing, paving the way completion of the work completion.

The new double-lane arch bridge, constructed parallel to an old deteriorating structure, has already incurred costs of Rs 10 crore.

The construction work had begun in 2023. Though it was slated for completion by March 2025, its work languished for months. The commuters were forced to use the aging single-lane bridge, which was unsuitable for heavy vehicles such as cement-laden trucks. The old structure was originally not designed to handle such loads and it had sparked safety concerns.

The bridge lies on a critical route leading to the Darlaghat cement belt, home to major manufacturers like Ambuja Cements Limited and UltraTech Cement. Hundreds of trucks use this route daily to connect with Arki, Kunihar, Darlaghat, and Subathu to National Highway-5 which connects to Chandigarh and Solan.

Himachal Tribune