Surendranagar: A bridge on the Bhogavo river in Gujarat’s Surendranagar district collapsed on Tuesday afternoon due to a sudden rise in water following discharge from an overflowing dam, officials said.
No casualties were reported in the incident.
The bridge, around 100-metre long, connected Habiyasar village with Chotila town, said Sub Divisional Magistrate of Chotila, KK Sharma.
Gujarat has been receiving heavy showers for the last three days. Surendranagar, Kheda, and Devbhumi Dwarka were also battered by rains in the morning hours.
The SDM said he did not know about the year when the bridge was built. Sarpanch of Habiyasar village, Tejabhai Bharwad who shot the video, claimed the bridge was constructed only five years ago.
“A large volume of water flowed into the river after a dam near Nani Morsal village overflowed, which caused the bridge crash. No one was injured in the incident,” said Sharma.
He said the administration never received any representation about structural issues of the bridge or whether it was weak.
Bharwad claimed that Habiyasar village is now cut off from the rest of the state in the absence of an alternative route.
“This bridge was built just five years ago. It collapsed at around 1:30 pm when I was at the spot.
When the bridge was being constructed, I protested because of faulty construction techniques. However, the contractor said it’s a new construction method. The bridge eventually fell apart today,” Bharwad claimed, adding that 800 villagers are cut off from the state.
This is the first time when the actual strength of the bridge was tested in five years as a large volume of water flowed into the river from the overflowing dam, he said
