Hyderabad: The famous bridge across the swollen Musi river, Puranapul, was shut for traffic after cracks were noticed on one of the pillars.
Police said traffic coming from Hussaini Alam and Bahadurpura side and from Karwan and Ziaguda on the other side was diverted.
The traffic police barricaded the bridge on both sides late Sunday after one of the pillars was found damaged. Some of the commuters also complained of vibrations.
The Puranapul is a key link between the old city and areas like Karwan, Dhoolpet, Ziyaguda, Mehdipatnam, Asifnagar and Tappachabutra on the other side.
The closure of the bridge led to traffic jams on roads on either side of the river. As the traffic was diverted towards the parallel Musallam Jung bridge, it also led to traffic snarl on that bridge which connects the High Court and surrounding areas to Begum Bazar on the other side.
Puranapul is the third bridge across Musi to be closed for traffic following heavy rains and flash floods that battered the city twice in the last one week.
Chaderghat causeway and Moosarambagh causeway across the river were already shut for commuters after they were flooded.
The Musi river is already in spate due to discharge of water from Himayat Sagar reservoir upstream. For the second time in a week, its gates were opened on Sunday following Saturday night's heavy rains to let surplus water into the river.