Local take detour to avoid the stretch

GURUGRAM: The collapse of a section of the elevated Sohna Road on late Saturday night has left the residents of the neighbouring Sispal Vihar and Vipul Greens —residential societies located opposite the site of the mishap — shaken. Sohna Road divides both these residential societies that are located opposite each other.

Few residents of Sispal Vihar in Sector 49 say that they will avoid travelling via Sohna Road for the time being and instead take a slightly longer route via Bakhtawar Chowk. They said that the incident has brought in question the structural stability of the elevated road, with many fearing that it might collapse again.

“Even though I realise that this may be a one-off incident, there is still a sense of paranoia in me. I fear the flyover may collapse again. As such, for the time being, I am opting to not drive via Sohna Road and use the arterial routes via Bakhtawar Chowk. It will take me a couple of weeks to travel via Sohna Road again,” said Sanjeev Kumar, a resident of Sispal Vihar.

Residents said that they are reminded of similar incidents that have taken place in other parts of India in recent times. For instance, in Kolkata in March 2016, an under-construction flyover had come crashing down, causing more than 50 fatalities. Similarly, an under-construction Delhi Metro bridge near East of Kailash collapsed in July 2009, claiming the lives of five people.

Hariharan Seetharaman, a resident of Vipul Greens in Sector 48, said that when the flyover collapsed last night, he felt like his building had been hit by a concrete boulder. “The jolt was worse than any earthquakes I have ever experienced,” he said.