The Hindu : Front Page : Mulayam out to build bridges with masses

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Jan 04, 2007
ePaper

Front Page

Front Page

Mulayam out to build bridges with masses

Atiq Khan

A record 172 of them opened and foundation laid for 140 more on a single day

BUILDING BRIDGES: Flanked by his ministerial colleagues, Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav presses a button at his residence in Lucknow on Wednesday for his bridge building spree. - PHOTO: SUBIR ROY.

LUCKNOW: With elections in Uttar Pradesh round the corner, Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav on Wednesday unveiled a package for building bridges with the masses. The Chief Minister inaugurated a record number of 172 bridges and laid the foundation stone for 140 more on a single day sitting at his 5 Kalidas Marg official residence here.

The Chief Minister had earlier inaugurated 140 bridges and laid the foundation stone for 247 others. With the latest spree, a total of 312 bridges are claimed to have been completed in the three years of Samajwadi Party rule in the State so far from 2003 to 2006. These bridges have been built on all the main rivers of the State including the Ganga, the Yamuna, the Betwa the Ghagra, the Rapti, the Chambal, the Sharda, the Gomti, the Ramganga, the Tons and the Kanhar, in different parts of the State.

The task has been undertaken by the UP State Bridge Corporation which also had 48 projects outside UP in its kitty. Describing road building and building bridges as priority areas of his regime, Mr. Yadav told a select gathering of ministers, officials and media persons at his residence that whereas his party men had failed to publicise the achievements of the Government, the masses were quite aware of his development initiatives.

Mr. Yadav minced no words in attacking the Central Government for its "non-cooperation" and stressed that despite the heavy odds the entire cost of the bridges had been borne by the State Government. He was also critical of the Centre's refusal to "give a single penny" for construction of big bridges on the "national rivers" (read Ganga and Yamuna). Around Rs. 3,000 crore has been invested in the bridge building programme of the Mulayam Government.

The pace of bridge building under the three years of Mulayam rule is evident from the fact that in the 53 years from 1950 to 2003 (before Mr. Yadav took over as Chief Minister for the third time), 1,274 bridges were built in the State -- an average of 24 bridges per year.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Front Page