India's Bridge to nowhere, not built

NEW DELHI: In a bid to undo a Himalayan blunder, the government has scrapped the four-year-old project of building the world's highest bridge on Chenab (359 metres), a crucial part of the first railway line to Kashmir. The delay in cancelling the bridge, which was supposed to be built for Rs 512 crore, may cost it dearly as the government is already facing claims of Rs 300 crore from an international consortium involved in the project.

The abandonment of the bridge follows a belated discovery that it is unfeasible as the gorge in a high-relief mountainous region is not stable enough to bear the load of the mega steel arch. [link]

Is this important? Not really. But had it happened during the NDA regime, it would make it into a "Face the nation" show. That's all we are saying. Some other news items one came across in recent days that went sulking for want of a TV show:

- Dinner for Rajdhani express being prepared in an unhygienic facility
- More than 50% of India is poor according to latest poverty stats
- More than two thirds of India defecate in the open

We are not saying that these things are happening all of a sudden, just that these are not getting as much attention since "their Government" is at the center. That's all we are saying. perhaps they are all busy covering the American election and the Nuke deal.

There was another curious piece of news - a lot of kids died during clinical trial of drugs at AIIMS. This got a lot of coverage and eventually it was found that the kids who had died were terminal cases anyway. Funny thing is, the Health Minister (Sri Ramadoss) ordered an inquiry into the incident and generally made statements as if he has no responsibility in the matter.

This is the great advantage "their Government" enjoys in terms of public image. AIIMS good? All due to Ramadoss. AIIMS bad? No fault of Ramadoss, oh those stubborn casteist Doctors! Railways good? Laloo of course. Railways bad? Hey look look, Deepika Padukone!