Morbi’s historic ‘Julto Pul’ to re-open in last week of Jan

Posted: Jan 05, 2008 at 0000 hrs IST

Rajkot, January 4 The historic Julto Pul (hanging bridge) of Morbi will be thrown open to the public, in the last week of January, after a gap of nearly three decades. The repair and renovation work on this engineering marvel, inspired by the famous Hanging Bridge of London, is on the verge of completion.

Spanning the Machuchu River, it is one of the few hanging structures in India. It was constructed of special teak wood, iron and wires imported from England by the erstwhile ruler of Morbi, Thakore Vaghe, some 180 years back.

Due to its unique design and cultural value, the bridge has almost become synonymous with the industrial town of Morbi in Rajkot district.

The bridge connecting Barbargadh Palace to Nazarbaug was in operation till 1979 when a devastating cyclone struck this town. Since then, several repairs have taken place, but due to its deteriorating condition, the Rajkot district administration closed the bridge to save this famous Saurashtra landmark from complete collapse.

The Rajkot collectorate's call for the public-private participation for the renovation of Julto Pul received a favourable response from the Morbi-based Ajanta Group, who are among the country's leading wall-clock and tile manufacturers.

"The Julto Pul is being renovated at a cost of Rs 1 crore. The entire expense has been borne by the Ajanta Group. This time, superior quality material has been used to give the bridge at-least 10 years’ relief from wear and tear," said Rajkot District Collector Pradeep Sharma.

Sharma said over 90 per cent of the repair work has been completed and the Julto Pul is likely to be reopened for the public from January 27. The district administration is, however, yet to decide whether to declare it as a tourist site, or to open it for regular traffic. "It is yet to be decided whether it should be reopened just as a tourist site or also allow commuters on the bridge," said Sharma

The Julto Pul was constructed over a span of four years starting 1883. The bridge is 756-feet long and 4.6-feet wide. The main wooden lane has now been replaced with aluminium composite sheet, which is not only durable, but more lightweight compared to teak. The wooden support beams have also been replaced with weatherproof aluminium channels. To give it a complete weatherproof effect, the sheets and channels are being coated with high temperature aluminium paint.

You can reach Morbi by road from Rajkot within 1 and half hours only. There are buses available run by Gujarat State Road Transport Corporations and also by private travel companies. The nearest railway station is Wankaner from where you can get trains to reach many major cities of Gujarat and even of Maharashtra and few other states. Nearest Airport to reach Morbi is around 67 km away in Rajkot and 247 km away in Ahmedabad. Indian Airlines run regular flights from Mumbai to Rajkot.