U.P. Bridge Maintenance Policy 2023 will set a benchmark for other states: Jitin Prasada
Lucknow: Uttar Pradesh’s Public Works Minister Jitin Prasada launched the Uttar Pradesh Bridge Maintenance Policy 2023 at Tathagat Auditorium located at the Public Works Department Headquarters. On this occasion, he said that safety is the top priority of the Chief Minister, keeping this in view, the bridge maintenance policy has been formulated. Jitin Prasada said that this policy is the first of its kind which will be a role model for other states. I have full faith that this policy will work to carry forward the glorious tradition of the department. Under this policy, the department will prepare a GIS database of all the bridges. This database will also have an integrated mobile application system which will help the authorities to review the status of the bridge.
Jitin Prasada said that apart from this, comprehensive guidelines have been established in this policy for various categories of inspections, such as routine inspection and Principal Inspection, through which officials will be able to do a detailed and point-wise inspection of bridges, which will increase the life span of these structures. Under these guidelines, regular inspection of bridges will be done twice a year in May and November (before and after monsoon). If any problem is found in the structure of the bridge during regular inspection, the frequency of inspection will be increased as per the requirement.
Prasada said that this policy will make bridge maintenance more effective by including modern techniques like Mobile Bridge Inspection Units (MBIU) in bridge inspection for substructure and superstructure.
On the basis of these available information, the department will prepare the annual bridge maintenance budget.
Jitin Prasada said Uttar Pradesh is moving forward to set new dimensions of economic prosperity. We are determined to take the economy of the state to one trillion dollars. An important step in this journey is to develop a wide road network in the state which can serve as the basic infrastructure to provide health and education related services to the last rungs of the society. Uttar Pradesh has the second largest road network in the country and the total length of our roads is 4 lakh km. It is also necessary to keep in mind in this matter that as important as setting up the network infrastructure, it is equally important to maintain it regularly. The Public Works Department is taking such policy steps so that proper maintenance of this infrastructure can be done and it remains useful for the public for a long time. Bridge Maintenance Policy 2023 is an important decision in this direction.
