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Newly elected MPs, Om Birla (Kota) and Dushyant Singh (Jhalawar-Baran), on Wednesday met the chairman of National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) to resolve the issues related to the hanging bridge in Kota. The MPs (designated) met NHAI chairman RP Singh and apprised him on the slow pace of work. "Since the incident in 2009 where 48 workers were killed, construction work has come to a complete halt. We have asked the chairman to resume it soon and complete the work at the earliest," said Birla.

"The bridge is the lifeline for the people of Kota and in the absence of it several road accidents are taking place," said an official. According to NHAI officials who were present in the meeting, the chairman assured them of full cooperation. "Representatives from Gammon India and Hyundai were called in the meeting and have been categorically asked to start the work in full swing by next week. Otherwise the project will be terminated and both companies will be blacklisted," said the official.

The work has been held up because of the infighting between the two companies. Both companies are blaming each other for the delay. In fact, things reached to a point that local BJP MLA from Kota (North), Prahlad Gunjal even locked up the NHAI office in Kota.

However, the newly elected representatives pointed out that they are in favour of continuing work by the same companies. "We feel that these companies should continue, otherwise re-tendering and again starting from scratch will take another eight years," said one of them.

NHAI, taking the matter seriously, has even called the CEO of Hyundi from South Korea. According to officials, Hyundai is willing to take the project forward while Gammon India Ltd is facing financial crunch and feeling the heat. On May 7, NHAI has already given both the partners a last chance to settle their disputes and resume their work.

Source-On Request