Power Minister Abu Taher Mondal on Wednesday said that the ongoing rehabilitation works of Umiam Stage-I dam is likely to be completed before the start of the monsoon.
The minister had recently inspected the dam and assessed the progress of critical works such as drilling and grouting being undertaken under the Dam Rehabilitation and Improvement Project (DRIP)
“We are expecting and we are trying our level best to see that it is completed within or before the monsoon,” Mondal told reporters.
He said holes are being drilled to see exactly the condition of the concrete and also to see the extent of the seepages adding “after drilling of the holes, a very high quality concrete will be brought to seal all those pores through which the seepages are there. This is the present status.”
The minister also informed that movement of vehicles will be totally shutdown when the bridge is lifted for replacement of the bearings.
“We will not allow any vehicle to pass on that particular day and definitely we will request all our consumers and also the commuters to kindly take alternative routes. We will display wherever it is necessary and also give some sort of advertisement that Umiam Bridge will be shut down for so and so dates and so and so hours,” he said adding “After that we will wait for the curing period then we will go for the releasing of the jack and ultimately bridge will bring to its own same position. So that day…we expect that eight hours there will be no traffic but after that when the bridge will be in a lifted position we will allow vehicles like ambulances and light vehicles.”
Asked, Monday said, “That we are targeting that this work should go simultaneously and we told them to give us the schedule preferably in the first quarters or 15 days of February.”
The minister also requested commuters to refrain from overtaking and follow traffic rules to avoid creating unnecessary traffic jams.
Meanwhile, Mondal informed that the National Highway Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited is looking into the issue related to identifying a new alignment for construction of an alternative route to avoid the use of Umiam bridge.
“I had a meeting with them (NHIDCL) also, they are trying to locate an alternative route for the bridge,” he said.
He said the Geological Survey of India did not allow proposals for construction of a new route either upstream or downstream of the dam.
In regards to an old bridge near the Umiam bridge, the minister said the bridge has been abandoned for quite a long time and many onlookers or the people there had told him that it is not motorable.
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