No casualties were there in the incident, as the bridge was closed for one year.
The approach road of the bridge connecting Meerut’s Hastinapur and Bijnor washed away in the river at 4 am this morning after it could not withstand the strong flow of the river.
Meerut: Today’s torrential rain in Uttar Pradesh’s Meerut district damaged a portion of a bridge that crossed the Ganga River and connected two towns to collapse. The bridge collapse has halted traffic in a number of the adjacent villages.
At 4 am this morning, the Hastinapur-to-Bijnor bridge’s approach road washed away in the river because it was unable to withstand the swift current of the river.
According to reports, the bridge was closed last year for repairs, and security upgrades are still being made.
According to Deepak Meena, the District Magistrate of Meerut, “The bridge between Hastinapur and Bijnor was shut down the last year too due to repair work, and the security installations are pending.”
“A bridge that connected Hastinapur and Bijnor was closed last year as well for maintenance. PWD had submitted an updated estimate that was higher than the original estimate. Security installation work is still being done. An investigation into the cause of the project’s delay is underway. The approach road has once again degraded as a result of the security provisions being unable to be installed because the revised estimate has not yet been approved. Deepak Meena was reported by the news agency ANI as saying, “We have demanded the release of the pending funds so that protection work on the approach road can be constructed.
Some residents told the news agency ANI that the connecting road was also demolished the previous year in the month of July and wasn’t fixed for six months. Additionally, they mentioned that the connecting road’s construction was completed barely two days before the area was slammed by the downpour on Saturday.
Administration authorities and the PWD department were also told of the situation, but nothing was done. Due to the erosion, which has worsened as a result of the Ganges’ rising water level, a portion of the link road washed away in the Ganges on Monday morning, completely obstructing traffic here. Currently, this link road is slowly being absorbed into the Ganges as a result of erosion. Traffic is completely stopped, and a queue of hefty trucks is backed up on the bridge,” they continued.
PREVIOUS INCIDENTS OF BRIDGES BEING WASHED AWAY:
Two years ago, a makeshift bridge across the Jakhan River that connected Rishikesh and Dehradun was washed away by two days of torrential rain. After the 57-year-old Ranipokhari bridge collapsed on August 27 as a result of severe rain, a temporary replacement was built. Long lines of onlookers were stuck on both sides as it fell Monday night after only holding up for two days of rain.
The traffic was redirected to another route without any injuries.
Public Works Department (PWD) stated, “The strong water flow carried away the makeshift construction. But by late Tuesday night, we had managed to fix the broken part. We will set up a permanent structure allowing water to travel through if there are any additional days without rain. More than 40 pipelines are being laid, which will help water flow and not harm nearby structures.
