(a) whether the Railways have decided to sell various old bridges as scrap in various
parts of the country;
(b) if so, the details thereof and the reasons therefor;
(c) whether the Railways had to put off their decision with regard to certain bridges
owing to public outcry; and
(d) if so, the details and the present status thereof?
MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS (SHRI ADHIR RANJAN CHOWDHURY)
(a) to (d): A Statement is laid on the Table of the House.
STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PARTS (a) TO (d) OF UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 739 BY SHRI R.
THAMARAISELVAN TO BE ANSWERED IN LOK SABHA ON 08.08.2013 REGARDING SCRAP OF OLD BRIDGES
(a) & (b): No, Madam. However, the unserviceable released parts of the bridges namely steel
girders etc. are sold as scrap to realize the value for released material.
(c) & (d): Presently, there is a proposal to dispose off the released steel girders of old
Godavari bridge (Havelock bridge) at Rajahmundry across Godavari River on South Central
Railway which has been abandoned after commissioning of new bridge in the year 1997. However,
following the representations from the elected representatives, the proposal to dispose off
the released steel girders of abandoned old Godavari bridge has been kept in abeyance till
further decision in the matter.
Govt. of Andhra Pradesh has requested for utilisation of this bridge as “Integrated Tourism
development project†and the matter is under correspondence with the State Government. Further,
recently Ministry of Tourism, Govt. of India has also shown interest in utilizing the above
abandoned old Godavari bridge for tourism purpose.