Warnings on unsafe state of bridge went unheeded

Time of India

3 days ago

Vadodara: After the Gambhira Bridge over the Mahisagar river — between Mujpur and Gambhira villages of Padra taluka in Vadodara — collapsed on Wednesday morning, killing at least 11 people, it has emerged that several representations by local leaders on the unsafe condition of the bridge, built in 1986, were ignored by the authorities.
Three years ago, a member of the Vadodara district panchayat, Harshadsinh Parmar, who is from Mujpur village, wrote to the roads and buildings (R&B) department, saying the derelict bridge posed a threat to public safety.
In Aug 2022, Parmar urged the authorities to immediately declare the bridge unsafe, close it to vehicles to prevent an accident and start the process of building a new bridge immediately.
Parmar's letters to the R&B department, copies of which are with TOI, warned the authorities that they would be responsible for any loss of life if timely action was not taken.
Speaking to TOI, Parmar said that after his letter, the additional chitnis at the Vadodara district collectorate sent a missive to the executive engineer of the R&B department, to do the needful that same month.
After the Morbi bridge collapse on Oct 30, 2022, which killed 135, Parmar sent reminders to the R&B department and district collectorate.
"As there were vibrations in the pillars of the bridge, I repeatedly demanded that the report on the condition of the bridge be made public.
All we were told was that the matter was under consideration. The authorities knew well that the bridge would collapse, but unfortunately, no action was taken," he said.
Ironically, N M Naykawala, executive engineer of the R&B department, told mediapersons after the Gambhira bridge collapse that the department's report had not found any major fault in the bridge. "There was an issue with its bearings, which was attended to last year," he told mediapersons.
RTI activist and local leader Lakhan Darbar, however, said that an executive engineer of the R&B department in 2022 had himself confessed that the bridge was unfit for use. "This bridge was not safe. The testing report was negative, but despite our demands, the report was never made public. For three years, they allowed the bridge to function knowing very well that it was unsafe. Today, it turned into a 'death-bridge' and we are demanding that the strictest action be taken against the officials concerned," he said.
On action taken by the state govt in response to representations about the Gambhira bridge being unsafe, state govt spokesman Rushikesh Patel said, "The bridge collapse was discussed at the cabinet meeting. CM Bhupendra Patel sought an explanation from officials of the roads and buildings department on the issue. A team of experts from the R&B department and private experts visited the site. The report of these experts is awaited.
Once the report is available, the govt will be able to fix responsibility for the tragedy."
Patel added that the govt had sanctioned Rs 212 crore for rebuilding the bridge and the project is at the tendering stage.
Vadodara district collector Anil Dhameliya told TOI, "The chief engineer (design) of R&B department has been assigned the task of ascertaining the reasons behind the collapse," he said.