Developed nations too have them: Min defends controversial ‘90’ RoB

Bhopal: Speaking on the Aishbagh rail over bridge (RoB) of Bhopal that attracted national criticism in June last year, the public works department (PWD) minister said that highly-developed countries and states in India also have 90-degree bridges and roads.The minister further claimed the actions that were taken in the Aishbagh rail over bridge incident were not due to the angle of the bridge but because the slope that should have been given and the curves that should have been provided were not in place. He said: "The issue of the 90-degree bridge has also come up; A perception has been formed, and everyone has started going by that perception," The minister was speaking before the voting on demand for grants of his department in the state assembly.He added, "MP's dignity and respect should not be diminished anywhere. I believe that whether people from that side or this side (opposition or majority), no one would feel good about it. First of all, let us understand that the bridge is not a 90-degree bridge; it is a 119-degree bridge."I have been told that in the country and the world, in highly developed countries and in developed states of our country, there are 90-degree bridges and even 90-degree roads, because when development is planned in an already established city, the intersections and bridges that are built have to be constructed within the available space; because of that, sometimes 90-degree designs happen. Constructed at a cost of Rs 18 crore, the ROB had hit headlines after it came to light that the bridge had a 90-degree turn which can lead to accidents. A HC probe found that the bridge was actually 119 degrees.