New Delhi, October 31

In times of crises, India always relies on its armed forces, the Railways said today, amid criticism over the government’s decision to take the help of the Army to build a new foot-over bridge at Mumbai’s Elphinstone Road station.”We have always relied on the Army during a crisis,” a Railway official said. The Army had strong operational expertise in the construction of roads and bridges and in developing infrastructure and had been used during many civilian crises in the past, ministry officials pointed out.”Why should we wait for another disaster to happen before seeking help? If the Army can help rebuild the structure then why not get them to build it,” said an official. The ministry officials pointed out that the Army had been called in to join operations when the Mumbai-Goa highway bridge collapsed in August 2016, in rescue and rehabilitation work in Jammu and Kashmir during an earthquake in 2005 and floods in 2014 and the construction of a bridge during the Commonwealth Games in Delhi in 2010.A railway official also listed instances where the Army had been called in not just to repair and rebuild, but to manage fires as in 2008 when it helped control a blaze in a 13-storeyed building in Kolkata. — Agencies

Helping hand

• The Army had helped construct a foot overbridge during the 2010 Delhi Commonwealth Games when an under-construction bridge outside Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, collapsed days before the games were to start. The new bridge was built within five days
• The Army was also involved in making pontoon bridges across the Yamuna last year when a World Culture Festival was organised on the flood plains of the river by the Art of Living group