Ranchi: The controversial ramp of the Siromtoli flyover has reached the final stage of construction under heavy force deployment, even as strong protests by tribal groups continue to mount since January.
The primary concern of the tribals’ centres around the flyover’s ramp, which ends near the Siromtoli Sarna Sthal, a sacred site where they perform their religious rituals, particularly during the Sarhul festival.
According to them, the ramp is going to cause inconvenience to lakhs of devotees gathered at the site during the sacred festival. Despite the protests, the construction of the ramp is completed except some minor works, according to a senior official.
Speaking to TOI, Manohar Kumar chief engineer of road construction department said, “The construction of the ramp has almost completed except for installing crash barriers to prevent vehicles from veering
off the bridge. That apart, another few works including load testing of the flyover is also pending. So, the inauguration date of the flyover has not been finalised yet but the works will complete soon. The construction of the flyover started in September 2022.”
Another official of the department said that the flyover is most likely to be inaugurated by June this year. As the construction is nearing its completion, tribal leaders continued to express their anger and discontent over the govt’s adamant attitude towards their concern.
The 2.3 km long project, which consists an elevated road and a cable-stayed bridge, is being constructed at a cost of Rs 340 crores. The flyover connecting Siromtoli Chowk and Mecon Chowk is expected to smoothen traffic flow once operational.
Babloo Munda, president of Kendriya Sarna Samiti, told TOI that the Hemant Soren govt has betrayed the tribals and crushed their hopes. “We elected him as the chief minister for the second term with very high hopes that he would safeguard our rights, but he did the exact opposite. The ramp construction near the Sarna Sthal has narrowed down the approach way, which will pose a risk of stampede during the Sarhul from next year. With this, the govt has put the lives of tribals in jeopardy as well,” Munda added.
The tribal groups took many activities in the past four months including forming human chains stretching from Morabadi ground to the state assembly, and a dawn to dusk Ranchi bandh in April, to draw attention to the controversial project.
During the recent budget session of the Jharkhand assembly taking note of strong protests by the tribal community, speaker Rabindra Nath Mahto directed the treasury benches to ensure that the community does not face any hurdles in celebrating their festivals due to construction of Siromtoli flyover.