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DOWN MEMORY LANE

A bridge too precious

The collapse last week of the Mansi bridge, that connects the Red Fort to Salimgarh, which once served as the Moghul and British prison, is cause for considerable concern, more so since the bridge is a link with the one built by Jahangir in 1626 long before the Red Fort came into existence.

The name Mansi lends itself to various interpretations, one of which is that it was supposed to be the maang (hair-parting, literally) of the fort for which the barbican veil was erected by Aurangzeb. But this is all poetic fancy, says Haji Mian, a long-time resident of the Walled City. The Mansi bridge as such was more of a British creation related to the development of the Eastern Indian Railway, adds Mian, whose father was the repository of much of the oral history of Delhi.

Jahangir built a bridge when he came to Delhi from Agra on his way to Kashmir. It was constructed to facilitate access to Salimgarh from the Yamuna bank, past the ruins of the old fort of the Afghans which stood at the site now occupied by the Red Fort. Jahangir used to hold wine parties on an artificial island in the Yamuna, and then retreat to Salimgarh. When Shah Jahan built the Red Fort he probably renovated the Jahangiri bridge in the 17th Century. In the late 19th Century, the British built a bridge which ran almost parallel to it. The Jahangiri bridge underwent another renovation and became what is known as the Mansi bridge.

However, care was taken that it was high enough for elephants and camels to pass under it. But now over-laden trucks passing that way have caused damage to the bridge, which is not high enough for them. To avoid such a situation earlier, the Kashmere Gate was closed to traffic and the wall on its eastern side demolished for access to ISBT and other parts of North Delhi. It is worth pointing out that there used to be a kutcha bridge which extended from the now non-existent Calcutta Gate to the Yamuna bank as a link to the bridge of boats dating back to Moghul times. It was through this bridge of boats that the rebel sepoys from Meerut entered Delhi in 1857 through the Rajghat Gate in Daryaganj.

Talking of old bridges, the bridge at the entry of Lahore Gate of the Red fort, which replaced the original drawbridge of Shah Jahan’s time, was built during the reign of Akbar Shah II in 1811. The Wazirabad bridge near Majnu ka Tila was constructed in the reign of Firoz Shah Tughlak and has been in use for over six centuries.

The Lothian bridge was the first Railway bridge of Delhi named after Lt. Col. Lothian Kerr-Scott of the Royal Engineers. It dates back to 1867 and has now been rebuilt. Minto Bridge of the Northern Railway came up in 1933. The bridge on Kamal Ataturk Road was also built in the 1930s, along with the pedestrian bridge on the nullah some 200 metres away. The Athpula in Lodi Gardens dates back to the time of Emperor Akbar and has seven arches (instead of eight). The eighth pier has given it the name of Athpula. The Barahpullah was erected in Jahangir’s reign in 1611 and is a huge structure, south of Nizamuddin station. It has 11 arches and 12 piers. The bridge in Kotla Mubarkpur too was built in the 1930s and spans a filthy nullah. Besides these, there are the Yamuna bridges — old and new.

Now back to the Mansi bridge. It is high time this structure was spared the onslaught of modern times with its heavy vehicular traffic. If it is not possible to close it, then over-laden trucks should not be allowed to pass under it, and also the road level should be lowered (since the height of the bridge cannot be raised) so that the masonry wall is not knocked down time and again by onrushing traffic.

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