Dehradun (Uttarakhand): After an iron Bailey bridge on Joshimath-Malari-Niti Marg collapsed on Sunday, Uttarakhand's Principal Secretary (Home) RK Sudhanshu said that Rs 13 crore have been released to repair at least 182 bridges in the state. Sudhanshu also said that 288 bridges on the state highway will also be upgraded soon.
According to official sources, an iron Bailey bridge connecting Chamoli district's Niti village on the Indo- China border with the rest of the state collapsed while a truck was passing through it. The incident took place on Sunday in Burans near Malari. The truck also fell into the river as the bridge snapped, however, there was no loss of life. The truck driver managed to save himself by jumping into the river. The driver sustained serious injuries and he was admitted to a hospital. A team of Border Roads Organisation (BRO) officials and engineers rushed to the spot on information.
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Colonel Ankur Maharaj, the commandant of BRO, said that repair of this bridge and construction of another bridge here is underway. The BRO team will also investigate the cause of bridge collapse. RK Sudhanshu said that Rs 13 crore have been released to repair bridges in the state that include nine in Pithoragarh, three in Bageshwar, 11 in Nainital, 10 in Champawat, 47 in Almora, eight in Udham Singh Nagar, 13 in Uttarkashi, 38 in Chamoli, 12 in Rudrapayag, 25 in Dehradun and six in Pauri.
In a similar incident in Dharchula of Pithoragarh in 2022, a 180 feet long bridge on Adi Kailash Marg connecting the border with China collapsed. In January 2020, the Tawaghat bridge connecting India and China was broken. A Bailey bridge at Munsyari Milem in Pithoragarh also collapsed in 2020. The distance between this bridge and China border was only 65 km. As this bridge snapped, at least 15 villages were cut off from the rest of the world. However, the BRO was quick enough to react and constructed another bridge soon.
Environmentalist Rajeev Nayan said that bridges are meant for better connectivity of remote villages of the state. Hence, the bridges must be constructed using the best materials as a bridge collapse can cut off villages from the entire country.
