JP Bridge – A glimpse of the man and his saga Hello friends from Hyderabad, I am the Rail Over Bridge from Kukatpally to Hitec City in Hyderabad. Many of you know me very well. While you all were going through frustration and traffic jams, I was waiting to take shape and serve you. Wondering how a bridge can talk? It is not easy but I took all these pains to tell you my story. This is the story of a failed system where it takes forever to get anything done. This is the story of victory and unfettered determination of Dr. Jayaprakash Narayan (the new MLA of Kukatpally) and his team of volunteers from Lok Satta because of which I am now ready. This is also the story of opportunistic political parties that use your problems for publicity rather than on providing a solution. This is the story that tells us about why every project associated with the government takes forever. How it all began? ------------------- I was born from the Government Order GO.Ms.No.178 in 2006 with Rs. 24 crores sanctioned for my construction. Unfortunately even before any significant progress was made, the railway department raised objections on the design. This resulted in a deadlock. I stood helpless while many of you were going through hours of traffic jams. Neither the government nor the opposition cared. Dr. Jayaprakash Narayan – The New MLA ----------------------------------------------- Years passed and in 2009, Dr. Jayaprakash Narayan got elected as the MLA. There are three ways an MLA can approach a problem - ignore it, use it to gain publicity or work on a solution. As is his style, our MLA worked on a solution. So began my journey with him and with Lok Satta volunteers. * Given all his experience, Dr. JP realized that this is going to take some time. He immediately worked on a temporary solution. He got Rs 1 cr sanctioned to convert the existing culvert road to one way and had a new road constructed under the next culvert near the Indu project. This eased the traffic problems to an extent. * At the same time Dr. JP pursued HMDA to come up with an alternate design. Dr. JP followed up indefatigably and had to talk with the HMDA officials NOT ONCE, NOT TWICE BUT MORE THAN 40 TIMES TO GET THE ALTERNATE DESIGN PASSED. I was happy to see his determination to get me completed. The year turned 2011. * Because of the new design the cost of the bridge increased drastically. Again Dr. JP came to my rescue. He met the Chief Minister twice and pursued him relentlessly for the budget. Volunteers chased the budget files and got them approved from four principal secretaries. Finally by October 2011, additional funds were sanctioned. * We have the design, and the budget. The next step is to get the Railway officials to pass the design. While in theory all government departments should work for the one common goal, in reality they behave like rivals. It took months of effort to get HMDA and Railway officials to sit together and approve the designs. The year turned 2012. * Since most of the major hurdles were cleared, there was hope that the flyover can finally be completed and now other political groups smelt blood. In a hurry to claim the credit for completing the flyover, they planned gimmicks. One guy even started a website on my name claiming to reach the officials through it. Though none of the other parties did anything about my completion, they used your problems for their publicity. * While all the hurdles of an inefficient system were uncompromisingly addressed by my MLA, a few unforeseen issues came up. There was a shortage of high grade construction steel in the market resulting in a delay of few more months. Dr. JP and Lok Satta volunteers continued their follow up on the issue. Finally in 2013, I am ready. I owe this day to Dr. JP and his team. Lessons to be learnt: ----------------------- The delay in my construction teaches a lot of lessons. * Even to construct a small bridge we need approval and funds from the CM. The file has to move across multiple offices and get scores of approvals. All this concentration of power is adding a lot of delay and inefficiency. * The cost of the bridge blew up from Rs. 24 crore to Rs. 57 crore because of this delay. How long can the taxpayer pay the price for the inefficient system? How can we change it? * These problems cannot be solved with dharnas, fasts, or speeches. But only through real change in the system that empowers citizens - we need local governments with funds and citizen participation. * If Hyderabad needs a bridge, the mayor, councillor, and ward committees with citizens should have the funds and the power to take decisions. We need a CM who empowers citizens and not keep all the power with himself. I hope that my story helped all of you realize the need to elect politicians that really work and not those that provide drama on TV. Keep in mind all those hours of frustration in traffic jams the next time you vote! You can send me birthday greetings at kukatpallynow/contact-us.html Sincerely, JP bridge (ROB Kukatpally-Hitec city)
Posted on: Thu, 19 Sep 2013 13:24:28 +0000
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