Beware, you are crossing ‘Gandanala Pulia’(Dirty Bridge). Novel are the ways the Indian Railways authorities thought of naming the bridge as ‘Dirty’, when the entire nation is influenced by the national Swachhata Abhiyan (Cleanliness Mission).
A small bridge that existed on the Nagpur-Wardha line near Ujjwal Nagar was widened recently. The widening was required for the third and fourth lanes laid for better movement of goods trains. The residents near the bridge were looking at the use of modern machinery for the excavation and construction of the new bridge and laying of the rail track. Despite facing problems in commuting on the road parallel to the railway track, people slowed down their vehicles or took small breaks to look at the machines for laying the track. The coordination of workers engaged in backbreaking work were singing motivational songs.
With the completion of the construction work of the bridge and later laying of the rail track, a small testing function added to their enthusiasm. The movement of trains on the new track about a week ago added to the joy. The joy lasted only a few days, as the Railway Authorities fixed a sign board naming the newly constructed neatly painted bridge as ‘Gandanala Pulia’.
The residents in the locality face problems because of the nullah, as it is a major mosquito breeding place. With the cleaning of wild plants for widening the bridge and construction of a cement road, the nullah, it was expected that the people would get rid of mosquitos. It turned out to be a nightmare, as the authorities named it ‘Gandanala Pulia’.