ગુજરાતી
English
Dilip Patel
Ahmedabad, 12 February 2024
Signature bridge was built between Okha and Bet Dwarka. 33 km from Dwarka. Sudur Bet Dwarka is considered to be the abode of Lord Dwarkadhish. Bet Dwarka Island has an area of 25-30 square kilometres. When Vishva Hindu Parishad minister and history keeper Ka Shastri turned 100, he publicly presented a plan to develop Dwarka to the Narendra Modi government at the Tagore Hall in Ahmedabad in 2002. Nothing happened for 20 years. In September 2017, the Prime Minister had announced to connect the sea route from Okha to Betdwarka by road.
15,000 tonnes of steel, 19,000 tonnes of MT and about 43,000 tonnes of cement have been used in the bridge.
Dwarka Signature Bridge, NHAI pays private companies to build the road under the EPC model. There are engineering, procurement and construction. The company does not own, collect or maintain the road. It has a provision for solar panels and one and a half meter walk.
The contractor of the Dwarka Signature Bridge project was SP Singla Construction Private Limited. In this, designs have been prepared by engineers from Hungary, Taiwan and India. 600 laborers and 150 engineering personnel were working in the construction work. The stake connecting Dwarka Island and Okha is worth Rs. The four-lane half bridge, costing Rs 962 crore, is a cable-stayed signature bridge.
Two years delay
The foundation stone of this project was laid by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 7 October 2017, ahead of the Gujarat state assembly elections. After offering prayers at the Dwarka temple, Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed a public meeting at the cricket ground in Dwarka. The bridge was deeded. The target was to complete the work of this bridge in 30 months. It was to be completed by September 2021. The work was completed after 53 months. It took 6 years and 5 months to build the bridge. It’s too late. Main work started in March 2018. It was expected to be ready by October, 2021. But it was not completed in February 2024. Six years ago the Central Government had approved the cable stay suspension bridge between Okha-Bet Dwarka. The Central Government had sanctioned Rs 962 crore. In the year 2017 Rs. Cable stay signature bridge project worth Rs 962 crore was approved.
According to the official details of the central government, the project will cost Rs. 962.43 crores. Its foundation stone was laid by the Prime Minister on 07 October 2017. The work was to be completed on 19 September 2021. The bridge work was to be completed in 4 years. Instead the bridge opened in February 2024. There has been a delay of two and a half years. In the first year 20 lakh people had to pass through it. In which 8 thousand local people used to cross the sea every day.
How is the bridge?
The bridge has 38 pillars, which are lifted into the sea using a hawk crane. The bridge is 2320 meters long, of which 900 meters is cable-stayed. A 2452 meter long approach road has been built. The main span of the bridge is 500 meters long, the longest span in India.
Company Bat is a bridge over the sea connecting Dwarka Island and Okha on the mainland. Its pylons are 150 meters high, 4 vehicle lanes and pedestrian walkways. This bridge has been built as part of the new National Highway-51.
This is the largest cable bridge in the country. 3.75 Km. The long bridge was made a 27.20 meter wide four lane. Solar energy panels are installed on the 2.5 meter wide footpath. There are two towers (Toran) 150 meters high, which are tied with wire. Half a kilometer between the two pylons. There is a distance.
The 3.73 km four-lane, 27.20 m wide cable-stayed Signature Bridge connects Okha and Bet Dwarka. 2.5 meter footpath. There is a 1 MW solar panel. The length of this bridge on the Okha side is 209 meters, while on the Bet Dwarka side it is 1101 meters. The length of the bridge is 2.32 km. This is the largest bridge in India. There will be a 150 meter toll and two pylons. The other 13 spans on either side are 50 meters long.
4 Lane Signature Bridge New National Highway No. Construction work has been done on NH-51. Solar panels installed on footpaths will generate 1 MW of electricity, which will be used for lighting the bridge. Additional power will be provided for the requirement of Okha village. There are viewing galleries for tourists at a total of 12 places on the bridge. The associated customer was MORTH.
CAG report
On March 29, in the Gujarat Assembly, the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) said that the Signature Bridge does not have environmental clearance despite being built in an environmentally sensitive area.
6 June 2023 A cable-stayed bridge connecting Okha and Betdwarka over the Dwarka Sea has been under construction since 2017. The controversy over the bridge being built in a sensitive marine national park area means environmental clearance has not been obtained. Modi government believed that cotton should not be torn.
The work of Bet Dwarka bridge was started without permission. Approval of Gujarat Coastal Zone Management Authority and State Environment Impact Assessment Authority was not taken. The signature project was built in an ecologically sensitive area. Has been declared an ecologically sensitive area. Overall clearance approval not obtained. An independent environment management cell was ordered to be set up by the Roads and Buildings Department of Jamnagar under the leadership of a qualified officer for environmental monitoring and management. Environmental impacts are to be studied during the construction of the Celle Bridge. Cell is not formed.
The responsibility of construction of the bridge is of the Roads and Buildings Office of Jamnagar.
The Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) reported that the “Signature Bridge” under construction between Bet Dwarka and Okha town in Devbhumdwarka district has not received environmental clearance despite being built in an ecologically sensitive area.
Dwarka Bay – an island three kilometers off the coast of Okha in the Arabian Sea – is believed to be the abode of Lord Krishna. Currently, the mainland can be reached by ferry boat. CRZ clearance applied for in June 2017 and approved in August 2017.
The state government did not insist on the ESA status of the project while examining the project.
The CAG said that apart from the EC being missing, the project is also not complying with the CRZ clearance conditions. A separate environment management cell was not set up to monitor and manage the environment during the construction and operation phase of the project, which was in violation of condition 55 of the CRZ.
Construction camps were set up on agricultural land. Permission was not taken for non-agricultural use of the land. Not only was this construction camp within the CRZ area, but it also lacked permanent ponds and oil receptors to prevent infiltration of surface runoff from fuel and other contaminants into seawater and other surface water bodies along the corridor. The used oil at the project site was being sold to local sellers instead of registered recyclers in violation of the conditions specified in the CRZ clearance.
When an incident occurs, the lives of some people are in danger. Which should be taken seriously. The functioning of this company running in Gujarat will be investigated impartially. Therefore, his belongings should be examined and it should also be kept in mind that there is no corruption involved.
What will happen to this bridge during conditions like sea waves and storm and sea storm?! This question is now in discussion because the reputation of the company that constructed this bridge is not good.
The bridge was tested with 48 heavy trucks on 10 January 2024. Heavy trucks remained parked on the bridge throughout the day. When the trucks were parked on the bridge, they had a load of 44,700 kg.
Apart from visiting Bayat Dwarka, tourists can also visit Dwarka, Shivrajpur, Poshitra Marine Sanctuary, Nageshwar Jyotirlinga, Charkala Bird Sanctuary and Gopi Lake Theertham.
Storm
SP Mohd. in Arambhada village of Mithapur. Singla had stolen goods weighing about 1400 kg and 77 iron ball lifting screw jacks worth Rs 75,000 from the company’s site. Rajneeshkumar Vishwamitra Sharma lodged a standard complaint at Mithapur police station.
On 21 June 2023, Barge Krishna, who had gone missing in the winds of Cyclone Bipperjoy, was still missing five days later. A total of four barges, including barges Krishna of Lords of Shore Service, the company working for the Signature Bridge of Bet Dwarka, and three of S.P. Singla were stranded.
investigation after bihar
The Dwarka bridge was inspected after the collapse of this company’s bridge on the Ganga river in Bihar. Parbatta MLA Dr. Sanjeev Kumar had raised questions in the Bihar Assembly regarding the quality of the bridge. But MLAs in Gujarat are silent. The BJP government of Gujarat has made it clear that the quality of the work on Okha Signature Bridge has been checked and the work has been found satisfactory. 7 spectra were examined. Three tests will be conducted. Prime Minister Modi will inaugurate this bridge before the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
Regarding the Signature Bridge built in Gujarat, the government clearly believes that there is no flaw in it. From ministers to officials are continuously monitoring the bridge. Therefore, there is no preparation to impose any kind of ban on this operation. However, performance monitoring will be continuously enhanced.
The bridge will become a destination for pilgrimage, tourism
A special plan has been made by the government to make the pilgrimage site Bet Dwarka a tourist destination. The tourism department surveyed more than 100 government and private properties in three phases. The process of land acquisition has been started by the Tourism Department for the development of the pilgrimage site Bet Dwarka. Therefore, an attempt was made to sell the properties falling under tourism curtailment. There are 125 hotels, guesthouses, inns, resorts in Dwarka. Now the focus will be on batting. You will enjoy the blue sea here. Since 2011 till now, works worth Rs 100 crore have been done here. 50 lakh pilgrims visited Dwarka in 2011. 75 thousand foreign tourists come here. One lakh tourists visit here every day during school holidays. After the construction of the bridge, an average of 1 lakh people have been able to come for darshan and tourism every day in a year.
Bulldozer
As soon as the Signature Bridge was built, the prices of land here started skyrocketing. Because not a religious place but a tourist place is being built here. There are three villages on the island. Bet Dwarka is home to 7,600 Muslims and 1,350 Hindus. In Bet Dwarka, 520 illegal structures built in 10 lakh square feet were demolished with bulldozers in 22 days. 10 lakh feet land was cleared. On the first day, about two dozen commercial structures were removed and more than 80 thousand feet of land was exposed. Ferry service was suspended.
On the sixth day, illegal occupation of 2 lakh 40 thousand feet of rural, pasture and marine land worth Rs 7 crore was demolished with bulldozers. 1000 policemen from three districts were deployed in security arrangements with tear gas, weapons and sticks. The operation was carried out with utmost secrecy and caution went. It was claimed that illegal construction was spread over 10 lakh square feet.
BAT Dwarka is an example of failed administration of BJP.
Before independence, the Hindu Maratha Gaekwad was administered by the Vaghers. In 1945, a Maratha Hindu king gave permission to build a mosque here. At the time of Gaikwad, in 2030, 500 voters were claimed to be Muslims and 2786 Hindus. BJP is ruling here since 1996 and according to religion, there is Hindu minority and Muslim majority.
Ramjan Palani Bet Dwarka is the main accused in the drugs case worth Rs 1500 crore seized from Narayan Koteshwar near Jakhau during BJP rule. Talab Jadeja deals in ganja and hashish. Ramjan Palani is from Dwarka. It was illegally demolished 11 years ago when Modi was the chief minister. Built on the land of Ray Gauchar. All this happened during BJP rule. Dargahs on Khara Chusna and Meetha Chusna islands have been built over 10 years and ghats have also been built illegally. It has relations with Pakistan.
20 criminal complaints have been filed between Muslims and Hindus in 5 years. 90 percent of the boats going from Okha to Bet belong to the Muslim community. According to the satellite map, the number of dargahs from 6 in 2005 is claimed to increase to 78 in 2022. All this happened during BJP rule.
Vishva Hindu Parishad’s founding leader and historian KK Shastri, addressed Narendra Modi at Tagore Hall in Ahmedabad and said that Modi did nothing for 20 years to build a military base in Bat Dwarka and increase the population. They turned a blind eye to what was happening.
Tourism Minister Purnesh Modi wrote in a X-tweet, “Most of the Muslim families of Bet Dwarka belong to Pakistan. The daughters of most of the families have father-in-laws in Pakistan. And many Pakistani Muslim daughters have father-in-laws in Pakistan.” Bet in Dwarka. 6 Dargahs became 78.”
Due to the construction of the bridge, the price of land in Bet Dwarka was Rs 4 lakh per acre, which has now increased to Rs 1 crore. Now the tent place is ready. There will be hotels. Now people will be able to reach BAT Dwarka with their vehicles. Bet Dwarka is being developed as a tourist destination. There will be residential plotting and hotel along with other tourism facilities. Dwarka Collector should investigate who has done the land deals here and in whose name. For the last 5 years, large scale residential, commercial and religious construction is taking place in BAT.
Land prices per square foot in Dwarka are Rs. There were 2 thousand, now there are 4000. 1 to 15 April 2023 Rs. 333 documents worth Rs 27.31 crore were registered. Which was double from last year.
Sea dangerous for bridge
The coast of Bet Dwarka is being washed away by the sea. Here the seas are rising and areas are sinking. “We were going to Betdwarka on foot at that time,” KK Shastri, a well-known historian of Gujarat, said in the Tagor hall of Ahmedabad. The sea here has dried up a lot in 100 years.
Now the ocean is drowning Bet Dwarka again. Five wells built 20 years ago on the coast near Padmatirtha in Bet have drowned in the sea today. Sea sand is being stolen.
The sea is swallowing the land from the north and north-east corner of Bet-Dwarka. As the sea water recedes, beds of acacia can be seen under the trees on the sandy shores. To stop the sea from moving towards the land, a defense wall will have to be built along the coast.
Bet Draraka has a temple of Hanumanji and his son Makardhwaj. There is no other father-son temple in India. In the west is the Dwarkadhish temple and in the east is the father-son temple.
If the sea continues like this then the bridge may be in danger. (GOOGLE TRANSLATION, from the original Gujarati report of AGN)
