Team Herald
NEW DELHI: The Government has woken up to identify more than 6,500 deadly bridges on the Indian national highways that are in “distressed” condition, waiting for collapse to cause major casualties. Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has decided to decommission 20 of these bridges on various highways that are more than 100 years old.
Its minister Nitin Gadkari has ordered replacement of all these 20 bridges on war footing, just like a new bridge over the Savitri river at Mahad in Maharashtra recently constructed in a record time of 165 days.
These very old bridges of the British era are located in the states like Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Bihar and Karnataka.
The structures that are over a century old include the Narmada bridge at Bharuch in Gujarat, one each at Kolhapur and Pimpri Chinchwad in Maharashtra and Gulbarga in Karnataka and two in Tikamgarh district of Madhya Pradesh.
In fact, there are 23 bridges in the country that are more than 100 years old. While three require immediate restoration, the rest will be replaced with new structures.
Traffic won’t be stopped until the new bridges are built. The ministry has decided to abandon the old bridges only after the new bridges are built and until then the vehicles will be allowed to move at very slow speed on the old bridges. The government actually woke up to realise very old rickety bridges exist risking lives only when the old masonry arch bridge, originally built in 1928, on the Savitri river near Mahad in Maharashtra, collapsed after heavy rains in 2016. Gadkari immediately announced construction of a new bridge at the same location within six month and the project was completed in the record time of 165 days, 15 days short of the target he had fixed.
