Nagpur: Bringing more embarrassment for chief minister Devendra Fadnavis and Maharashtra State Road Corporation (MSRDC), Yuva Sena activists threw open the Ram Jhula for public on Wednesday afternoon. Unfortunately, MSRDC officials used police machinery to close the three-lane cable stayed railway over bridge, so that the CM can inaugurate it on December 7.

TOI had reported that Ram Jhula’s first phase was ready to take traffic and contractor Afcons Infrastructure Limited had handed over the bridge to MSRDC on November 30. However, MSRDC did not open the bridge for public, and was waiting to get an appointment of the CM and other ministers to inaugurate it.

MSRDC sources told TOI municipal commissioner Shyam Wardhane spoke to Fadnavis and finalized the date for inaugural programme. “Fadnavis and other ministers will inaugurate the bridge on December 7.”

On Wednesday, around 100 activists of Yuva Sena, the youth wing of the Shiv Sena, reached Ram Jhula and removed the barricades. The group led by district chief Hitesh Yadav, vice-president Nitin Tiwari, Jaysingh Bhonsle and Akash Sarode took two-wheelers and four-wheelers onto the Ram Jhula from Mayo Hospital end and reached Jaistambh Square. They also asked autos and other vehicles to start using the bridge.

Police personnel arrived almost immediately and again barricaded the bridge from both sides.

Criticizing MSRDC and NMC, Tiwari told TOI the public is being kept away from the bridge so the BJP and its ministers can take credit. “People are fed up of travelling on the old bridge connecting Mayo Hospital to Jaistambh Square. The two agencies took eight long years to construct the new bridge with public money. But no one is ready to open it for the convenience of citizens, even after completion of works,” he said.

Tiwari added that the bridge should be opened for traffic from Thursday and formal inauguration can happen according to the convenience of the CM and ministers.

Ram Jhula is the fourth bridge to be kept closed after completion to enable ministers and political parties to take credit by organizing grand inaugural programmes.

