Highway bridge collapses in western India, casualties feared

The bridge, constructed in the 1940s, was the older of two parallel bridges which are on a highway connecting India’s financial capital with the tourism state of Goa. The tragedy echoed in Parliament and the Maharashtra assembly where several opposition leaders, including Congress’s Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil and Nationalist Congress Party’s Ajit Pawar, lashed out at the government for not shutting down the old bridge though it had exceeded its lifespan. In one of his tweets, Fadnavis said the primary reason for the accident seemed to be the high pressure caused due to flooding of Savitri river due to heavy rains in the catchment area of Mahabaleshwar.

Officials of the district administration and police rushed to the spot and restored traffic through a new bridge not far away.

Spoke to Raigad SP & Collector about bridge collapse on Mumbai-Goa highway.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi called up Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and offered help in the rescue work. Darkness had hampered operations, which resumed this morning. The incident happened at about 2 am and about eight per cent of the bridge built over the Savitri River gave away.

The rescue operation was in full swing today along 150 kilometres long stretch of river and sea coast where this river meets Arabian see. National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) sent three teams comprising of 80 personnel to the spot.

The air force, navy and coastguard have deployed helicopters to survey the river, while television footage showed rescuers in inflatable dinghies trying to maneuver on the fast-flowing water.

A 300-kg magnet was lowered on Thursday morning into the swollen Savitri River to trace two buses carrying 22 people who were swept away by the river after a British-era bridge collapsed near Mahad in Raigad district.

At least two dead bodies have been recovered by search teams working on the river. There is no confirmed assessment about the number of casualties since the area is very dark.

“Also, we have kept two teams in Mumbai and two teams in Pune in stand-by mode, and they would be roped in as and when needed”, he said. Traffic along the Mumbai Goa highway has been diverted and smaller vehicles have been directed to use the Mahgaon and two other routes.