Reconstruction of the Champakkara bridge on the Vytilla-Pettah stretch resumed on Friday following talks between representatives of the contractor, Mary Matha Constructions, and labour unions.
The work had to be halted twice during the past one week for a total of five days, after trade union activists reportedly forcibly stopped it, demanding employment in 50% of the work. As per the agreement reached during Friday’s talks, three workers affiliated to the CITU and two of the INTUC will be allowed to carry out unskilled tasks at the work site. The contractor will deploy a workforce comprising 15 people, sources said.
Work resumed on Friday afternoon, and it will be in full swing from Saturday. Piling is over on the Vyttila side, and pile capping is under way. The five trade union workers will continue at the work site till piers (pillars) are ready.
Workers of the contractor, comprising mostly migrant labourers, will be deployed for pier capping. Trade union workers will then be deployed for slab and related works, once pre-cast girders are launched, the sources added.
Once the four-lane bridge is ready, the contractor will be free to deploy his own team of workers for the metro viaduct that will hover over the bridge at a height of 12 metres.
Meanwhile, Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) managing director Mangu Singh inspected the Maharaja’s College Ground-Pettah metro corridor on Friday. He oversaw the progress of civil work in the corridor up to Thykoodam and also the Champakkara bridge work. He reviewed the progress of the much-delayed land acquisition in the Thykoodam-Pettah corridor.
