The technocrat popularly known as `Borros' has shunned all worldly pleasures and has been spending his days lying in a corner of railway station for nearly a decade ever since he felt something had gone wrong in the construction of the 22-year-old Grande Duchesse Charlotte bridge, for which he took responsibility.

Undeterred by snowfall and rain, a bearded Borros in his late sixties keeps on gazing at commuters from his `home'. His friends say he is mentally deranged and their repeated requests to him to return home fell on deaf ears.

Widely respected by the people for his technological contribution, Borros can be seen covered with blankets, quietly having food and wine.

He did not respond when this correspondent approached him with a few questions. Government has given hima well furnished flat in a multi-storeyed building but he has never slept there.

Once or twice a month, Borros, deserted by his family members, goes to his flat but hardly spends a few minutes there and is back at the railway station where he keeps his belongings -- a few bags, some blankets and utensils.

He does not have to rummage for food as shopkeepers and commuters out of respect provide him with what he needs.

A bottle of whiskey is a must for him and owners of pubs around the railway station are too happy to offer him his daily quota. Sometimes he pays for the bottle.

Although he is said to be a mental wreck, he never forgets to take his monthly pension from the government treasury.

School and college boys approach him when they find some mathematical questions difficult and he helps them solve the problems.

If he is in a bad mood, he flares up, shouts, and chases them away. The Kirchberg plateau in this tiny country about the size of Delhi, surrounded by Germany, France and Belgium, islinked to the town centre by the bridge that was opened to traffic on October 24, 1966.

The main purpose of the bridge was to serve the needs of a European district intended to accommodate its institutions and to complete a road network in accordance with the Geneva declaration of October 1950 concerning international traffic itineraries.

The new 234-metre long and 85-metre high bridge is the result of an international tender competition launched in 1957, to which 37 firms in eight countries responded with 70 offers.

The final decision went in favour of the bridge with twin supports, designed and submitted by Rheinstahl-Union-Bruckenbau of Dortmund school of Brussels. Work on the bridge began in August 1962 and it was thrown open to traffic on October 24, 1966.

The twin supports are about 40-metre high and the bridge consists of 108 metal pieces weighing about 4,800 tonnes.