The bridge over Mahisagar river connecting Vadodara’s Mujpur to Gambhira in Anand district that collapsed on Wednesday morning and claimed at least 12 lives as of 9 pm, had locally earned the moniker “suicide point” owing to several such incidents.
On Wednesday, a part of the bridge collapsed a few metres away from the deepest point on the Mujpur end, thus disrupting access to Anand district and also breaking the link that it was for travellers from Saurashtra to Central Gujarat and Bharuch.
The kilometre-long bridge, spanning across the breadth of the Mahisagar, collapsed “all of a sudden”, taking with it two loaded trucks, an eeco, an autorickshaw and a pick-up van. Three persons travelling in the van, however, had a miraculous escape.
‘Rundown state’
Although Executive Engineer of the Roads and Building department, Nainish Nayakawala, claimed that the bridge had not shown any physical signs of damage and was “not dilapidated”, letters exchanged between elected representatives of the Congress — Anklav MLA Amit Chavda and Mujpur district panchayat member from Vadodara, Harshad Parmar — show that locals had been complaining about the bridge’s “rundown” state. Locals also claimed that the damage was a result of the administration allowing “unchecked” heavy vehicles frequently use the bridge.
“Heavy vehicles have been allowed to go unchecked on this bridge instead of restricting movement. Trucks took this route to avoid tolls and during peak hours. The bridge was built in 1985 and till it collapsed, it witnessed a movement of over one lakh vehicles everyday — the majority being heavy ones,” said Parmar.
However, according to officials of Anand district administration, the bridge was preferred by travellers from Saurashtra to South Gujarat as the route, which included state highways, not only helped “bypass” towns and cities, but was “free” and a shorter route too. A senior official of the district administration said, “There have been aspersions cast that the bridge was damaged because of unregulated heavy traffic, but it is a matter of investigation… The route was shorter as it bypassed Vadodara city, Jambusar town and other such areas thus making it a faster one.”
An official of the Roads and Building department said that with the connectivity now snapped, vehicles moving to and from Saurashtra to South Gujarat would have to opt for the route from Bagodara to the six-lane Vasad national highway. “People can also pass through Anand and head towards Vadodara and South Gujarat via Umeta and Sindhrot… This route can also be accessed through Asodar and Borsad in Anand. But one will have to navigate through city traffic to use this route,” an official said.
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On Wednesday, soon after the collapse, heavy vehicles were restricted from travelling on the Sindhrot bridge over the Mahisagar near Umeta. The decision, officials of Vadodara district administration said, was taken as the state government directed a thorough check and inspection of the bridges across the region, including assessment of the daily stress and movement of heavy traffic.
