Thaindian News

Lucknow, March 30 (IANS) The repeated demolition and reconstruction of a railing along a bridge on river Gomti here leading to Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati’s dream project - the Rs.1,200 crore Ambedkar Park cum memorial - has raised many eyebrows with officials putting it down to her “personal whims”.
The bridge was initiated by Mayawati during her second stint in power in 1997 and was thrown open to public in 2000 during the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) regime, when it was christened as ‘Gandhi Setu’.

When Mayawati assumed the chief minister’s office for the fourth time in 2007, it was taken up for major renovation on account of which it was shut for almost a year. Crores of rupees were spent on the renovation which involved demolition and reconstruction of a new railing along either side of the 500 metre span of the bridge.

To give it a grand look, Mayawati also got the entry arch at the threshold of the bridge pulled down to replace it with a giant sized gate costing Rs.10 crore that was nearly double the cost of the bridge. The ‘Gandhi Setu’ board was discreetly removed and in its place a huge signage was put up describing the opulent new structure as an entry gate to the Ambedkar Memorial complex.

After the prolonged closure, the bridge was once again thrown open to routine traffic March 15, when the state government was observing the 76th birth anniversary of the ruling Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) founder Kanshi Ram.

However, within a week of the mega event, that drew lakhs of BSP supporters from different corners of the state, the bridge was closed yet again late Sunday night. And the railing crafted in Mayawati’s favourite pink Dholpur stone to match the rest of the surroundings has been pulled down for the second time.

Asked what had led the administration to shut the bridge as also to demolish the railing for the second time, Lucknow Development Authority (LDA) vice chairman Mukesh Meshram told IANS: “After the bridge was re-opened sometime back, we realized that the railing was too high, preventing visibility of the river water down below.”

“The new railing will surely be lower than the one that was removed recently, so as to enable a clear view of the river, from inside a passing car,” he said.

Even as Meshram flatly denied that the chief minister was behind the second renovation within a year, highly placed sources, said: “The unusual height of the railing was noted by none other than Mayawati, who had herself determined that height.”

Comments a junior official: “It is all because of the chief minister’s personal whims that structures are built and demolished at the drop of a hat; the trouble is that being surrounded by sycophants, there is none to advise her on merit.”

Memorials and statues being erected at different public places in Lucknow alone have cost a whopping Rs.4,500 crore to the state exchequer.