'Construction being done as per set standards': MP govt on Indore's ROB

Bhopal/Indore, Jul 9 (PTI) While the row over technical flaws of the 90-degree turn railway overbridge (ROB) in Madhya Pradesh's capital Bhopal has not yet died down, a new controversy has taken shape over alleged flawed design of an under-construction ROB in Indore.

However, the state government has rejected the claims of faulty design in the ROB and said that it is being constructed as per the set standards.

Indore's Lok Sabha MP Shankar Lalwani has written a letter to the state's Public Works Minister along with instructions to officials to change the sharp turn proposed in the design of the under-construction ROB.

Lalwani told PTI on Wednesday that at a meeting in June, he told government officials to reduce the degree of a sharp turn by changing the design of the ROB.

Public Works Minister Rakesh Singh said that the design of Indore's 1,000-metre-long and 12-metre-wide ROB has been prepared through a joint survey of the Public Works Department and Railways as per the set standards.

Singh said, "There are a total of five turns in this ROB which are being constructed as per the guidelines of the Indian Road Congress (IRC). According to IRC standards, the minimum radius of a curve should be 15 metres, whereas the radius of all the turns of this ROB is about 20 metres, due to which it is completely balanced and safe from the point of view of design and structure.

Meanwhile, State Congress President Jeetu Patwari has claimed that the shape of the ROB being built in Indore is like the letter 'Z' of the English alphabet.

He said, "The Bharatiya Janata Party leaders in Indore have turned a blind eye to this ROB. The other aspect could also be that the matter is related to the commission for sharing in the corruption of its construction." One arm of the ROB being built near the goods warehouse of Laxmibai Nagar Railway Station in Indore will reach the Pologround Industrial Area of the city. Representatives of the industrial area have also raised objections to this ROB. PTI HWP MAS AMJ AMJ