The Ram Jhula consists of two parallel cable-stayed railway over-bridges in

Nagpur Nagpur (pronunciation: aːɡpuːɾ is the third largest city and the winter capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the 13th largest city in India by population and according to an Oxford's Economics report, Nagpur is projected to ...

, India. The long bridge crosses the railway tracks north of Nagpur Junction railway station. The Blue Line of the

Nagpur Metro Nagpur Metro is a rapid transit system for the city of Nagpur, Maharashtra, India. It is estimated to cost . In February 2014, the Government of Maharashtra gave approval for the Metro Project, while the Government of India's Ministry of Urban ...

will run along the centre of the bridge on the eastern side.

History

A bridge was originally built by the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

in 1927 to connect what was then Old Nagpur and New Nagpur that lay across the tracks of the

Great Indian Peninsular Railway The Great Indian Peninsula Railway ( reporting mark GIPR) was a predecessor of the Central Railway (and by extension, the current state-owned Indian Railways), whose headquarters was at the Boree Bunder in Mumbai (later, the Victoria Term ...

(GIPR, the precursor to Central Railway. The South East Central Railway and

Nagpur Municipal Corporation Nagpur Municipal Corporation is the municipal body administering Nagpur, in Maharashtra state in Central India. History Nagpur Municipal Council was established in 1864. At that time, Nagpur Municipal Council's geographical area was 15.5 k ...

were informed by the British contractors that the bridge had lasted its guaranteed service life and hence be kept out of bounds for heavy vehicles. Subsequently, the

Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation The Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation Limited (Marathi: महाराष्ट्र राज्यमार्ग विकास महामंडळ मर्यादित), commonly abbreviated as MSRDC, is an Indian publ ...

(MSRDC) was handed over the responsibility to demolish and reconstruct the bridge.

Reconstruction

The MSRDC began work in 2006 by building a three-lane cable-stayed bridge parallel to the old bridge. The bridge was built by Afcons, a subsidiary of the Shapoorji Pallonji Group. As per the plan, the old bridge would be demolished once the parallel bridge was open to traffic following which a second three-lane bridge would be built, bringing the total number of lanes to six. However, a dispute arose between MSRDC and the

Maharashtra Metro Rail Corporation Limited Maharashtra Metro Rail Corporation Limited (Maha Metro) is 50:50 Joint Venture company of Government of India & Government of Maharashtra headquartered in Nagpur, India. The existing ''Nagpur Metro Rail Corporation Limited (NMRCL)'' was reco ...

(MahaMetro) over the alignment of the Blue Line of the

. MahaMetro sought permission to build the metro between the two bridges but the MSRDC refused. In 2016, the Nagpur bench of the Bombay High Court asked Maharashtra Chief Minister

Devendra Fadnavis Devendra Gangadharrao Fadnavis (Marathi pronunciation: ��ेवेंद्र फडणवीस born 22 July 1970) is an Indian politician serving as the 9th and current Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra since 30 June 2022. He served as ...

to resolve the matter. Subsequently, MSRDC and MahaMetro agreed to integrate the two structures. The last of the second bridge would be built by the latter with two levels with the metro at the upper level before proceeding towards the railway station.

References

{{coord, 21.1535, 79.0894, type:landmark_region:IN, display=title Transport in Nagpur Cable-stayed bridges in India Railway bridges in India