A Puja to ward off evil spirits from an Allahabad bridge

A special Puja was conducted here recently to protect a bridge built over River Yamuna from the influence of evil spirits who are believed to have possessed it and led to a number of suicide incidents in the recent years.

By Virendra Pathak

Allahabad, Dec.12 : A special Puja was conducted here recently to protect a bridge built over River Yamuna from the influence of evil spirits who are believed to have 'possessed' it and led to a number of suicide incidents in the recent years.

The four-lane Concreted Cable Stayed Bridge, which is about 1.5 kilometres long, has been built across River Yamuna as per international standards. Since its opening in 2005 many people have committed suicide by jumping off this bridge.

Officials of National Highways Authority of India and the Danish consultant-collaborator Kovi Company on Monday (Dec.10) organised the Puja on the suggestion of the local administration.

"The administration has asked us to use (wire) net upon it (the bridge). To save ourselves from the ongoing incidents, we have organised some Puja. Earlier, there was some disagreement over naming the bridge so no Puja could be performed. Therefore, we have performed it today," said A. K .Singh, the Director, National Highways Authority of India.

The Puja was meant to appease the nine planets and worship River Yamuna through yajna and prayers.

Putting up a protective (wire) net on either side of the bridge has been proposed to prevent 'suicides'. And, the special Puja was intended to protect individuals linked to work of putting up net.

"We are performing this Puja because over the last three years, a number of suicides have taken place. The bridge was built as per the international standards but there were too many people committing suicide. The bridge was never officially opened. We opened it on Monday and that was seen as not very good omen for the future of the bridge. So myself and Eric, who is in-charge here, agreed to the suggestion of local people for Puja to dissuade these people from jumping," said Robert, Team Leader with the Kovi Company, Denmark.

Executed by the joint venture of Hindustan Construction Company (HCC) and Hyundai of Korea, the bridge's construction had commenced in 2000.

Though the bridge had become a bone of contention between political parties for taking credit for its construction, the spate of suicides committed over the bridge has left the leaders at their wits' end.

As per an unofficial estimate about 200 people jumped off the bridge and over 50 individuals died since the bridge's opening.

The installation of the net is learnt to have been subjected to some security and maintenance related issues.

ANI