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Time of India
7 hours ago
- Business
- Time of India
Sankar Vilas flyover in Guntur set for demolition on July 20
Guntur: Decks have been cleared for bulldozing of the Sankar Vilas flyover in Guntur city as the district administration directed the police and civic authorities to take immediate alternative measures to divert the traffic. The old flyover will be razed down to construct a new one. The traffic on the flyover will be stopped from next Wednesday. The R&B department, the nodal agency to construct the new flyover, has decided to start bulldozing of the existing flyover from July 20 and asked the line departments to take adequate measures to handle the vehicular movement through alternative routes. Taking the R&B department's decisions into consideration, district collector Nagalakshmi asked the Guntur Municipal Corporation (GMC) and city traffic police to stop vehicular movement on Sankar vilas flyover route from July 16 itself. In fact, a year has passed since the Centre sanctioned 98 crore to take up the new Road over Bridge (RoB) by replacing the 65-year-old flyover near Sankar vilas junction. The district administration took more than 10 months to complete the spade work before the launch of the construction. Surprisingly, the govt has not completely cleared the compensation to the building owners who will be losing their precious properties on the main road of brodipet. GMC authorities have been asked to ensure that key alternative roads-three bridges junction and Pattabhipuram road under bridge (RUB) were not flooded during the monsoon season. The GMC has geared up with diesel motors and operators to handle the emergencies to pump out the water. Similarly, the potholes on all the exit and entry routes have been taken up on war footing basis to allow the free flow of traffic during the construction of the new flyover. The traffic DSP Ramesh made a whirlwind visit of the city and initiated measures to remove the bottlenecks. The vehicle parking slot near APSRTC bus stand and auto parking area have been evacuated to prevent the traffic jam. Similarly, the traffic diversions were initiated near Donka Road, kuglar hospital road, Chuttugunta junction and GMC office. The vehicle parking area has been removed at Lalapet police station and street vendors were also removed from the vegetable market area. Traffic police decided to deploy additional teams near key junctions to clear the traffic jams after diversion of the traffic. "We will suggest the educational institutions in and around the city which operated buses via Pattabhipuram flyover to change the opening and closing times by 30 minutes to 45 minutes to reduce the traffic jam," said a senior police official. More than 200 schools and colleges operate buses through the city roads. GFX Sankar vilas flyover is key link between the trade zone of Guntur one town residential areas of two town The flyover handles movement of more than 1 lakh vehicles per day Diversion of such huge traffic through limited alternative routes is a big challenge for the GMC and city police The construction of new flyover is expected to take at least three years Centre granted Rs.98 crore for taking up the four-lane RoB
Time of India
6 days ago
- Politics
- Time of India
Gujarat bridge was ‘unfit for use'? Vadodara's death-bridge warnings were reportedly buried since 2021
The Gambhira Bridge collapse in Vadodara, resulting in 16 fatalities, exposes ignored warnings dating back to 2021 regarding its unsafe condition. Despite repeated alerts from local leaders and internal reports deeming the bridge unfit, authorities failed to take adequate action. The state government has initiated an investigation and sanctioned funds for reconstruction following the tragic incident. Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads The collapse of the Gambhira Bridge in Vadodara's Padra taluka on Wednesday, which left at least 15 dead, has brought to light a series of unheeded warnings and buried reports about the bridge's unsafe condition dating back to bridge, built in 1986 over the Mahi River between Mujpur and Gambhira villages, had been flagged multiple times by local leaders as structurally unsafe. Harshadsinh Parmar, a member of the Vadodara district panchayat from Mujpur, had written to the Roads and Buildings (R&B) department as early as 2021, urging authorities to declare the bridge unfit for traffic and initiate steps to build a replacement, reported August 2022, Parmar reiterated his concerns, warning that inaction could lead to loss of life. He also followed up with further representations after the Morbi bridge collapse in October 2022, which killed 135 people. Despite this, no significant action was taken. "There were vibrations in the pillars. I kept demanding that the inspection report be made public. All we were told was that the issue was under consideration," TOI quoted Parmar as Parmar's letters, a communication from the Vadodara district collector's office was sent to the executive engineer of the R&B department in 2022, asking for necessary steps to be taken. However, no public disclosure of the bridge's condition to these concerns, R&B department executive engineer N M Naykawala said after the collapse that a departmental report found no major faults in the structure. 'There was an issue with the bearings, which was addressed last year,' he RTI activist Lakhan Darbar disputed that claim, stating that an internal report had found the bridge 'unfit for use' in 2022. 'Despite repeated demands, the report was never shared with the public. The authorities let the bridge function for three years knowing it was unsafe,' Darbar said. 'Now it has become a death-bridge. We are demanding accountability and strict action," he addedState government spokesperson and minister Rushikesh Patel said the matter was discussed in Wednesday's cabinet meeting. Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel has asked the R&B department to explain the lapse. A team comprising government and private experts has visited the site, and a detailed report is also said that the government had sanctioned Rs 212 crore for reconstruction of the bridge and the project was currently at the tendering stage.(With inputs from TOI)
Time of India
6 days ago
- Time of India
Warnings on unsafe state of bridge went unheeded
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.
