Govt identifies over 6,500 road bridges as deadly

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.

Union 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.

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. This is a policy decision to maintain uninterrupted connectivity.

The new replacement bridges will be wider and more commuter-friendly with good lighting arrangements, footpaths, flood alarm systems, anti corrosive steel and road measures in place. They will be built with new technology that ensures greater strength, the ministry officials said.

The structurally weak bridges were identified after the ministry ordered a survey of all bridges in 2016. It found 23 bridges that are over a century old and require immediate attention while there was over 6,500 others structurally distressed.