Meerut: A part of a bridge connecting two towns over the Ganga river collapsed due to the strong flow of water caused by heavy rain in Uttar Pradesh’s Meerut district on Monday evening.
The bridge collapse has brought the traffic in several nearby villages to a standstill.
The approach road of the bridge connecting Meerut’s Hastinapur and Bijnor was washed away after it could not withstand the strong flow of the river. The bridge was apparently shut last year for some repair and some security installations are pending.
Deepak Meena, District Magistrate of Meerut said: “The bridge connecting Hastinapur and Bijnor was shut the last year also due to repair work and the security installations are pending. An enquiry is going on to investigate the delay in the project. The revised estimate has not been approved yet as a result the security provisions could not be built and consequently, the approach road has again eroded.”
Some locals said that last year also, the connecting road was destroyed in the month of July and was not repaired for six months.
“PWD department and administrative officials were also informed about the matter, but no one took any action. The result was that on Monday, a part of the link road was washed away in the river, due to which the traffic here was completely obstructed. Due to the increase in the water level of the Ganga, erosion has taken a severe form, and gradually this link road is getting immersed in the river. A long queue of heavy vehicles is on the bridge and the traffic has completely stopped,” they added.
–IANS