Incomplete bridge crashes on Mumbai-Nagpur Samruddhi corridor
Darpan News Desk IANS, 09 May, 2023 10:44 AM
Nashik, May 9 (IANS) A portion of an under-construction bridge coming up on the Mumbai-Nagpur Super Expressway in the Ghoti area of Nashik area has crashed, officials said here on Tuesday.
According to a police official, the bridge, which will connect Gangadwadi and Belgaon-Tarhale in the Igatpuri taluka, was being constructed with cranes when it suddenly collapsed around 7.30 p.m on Monday.
There are no casualties in the incident, the work has been stopped, the causes are being checked and the crash site vicinity has been cordoned off, said the official of Ghoti Police Station, declining to be quoted.
The bridge is a link in one of the most difficult terrains on the 701-km long 'Hindu HridaySamrat Balasaheb Thackeray Maharashtra Samruddhi Mahamarg' Phase I, that was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on December 11, 2022.
The work on the remaining around 181-km long Nashik-Mumbai section is currently being implemented at a fast pace, and the bridge crash is likely to delay the completion of the Rs 55,000-crore mega-project.
The bridge accident has raised questions on the construction quality, processes and materials as well as proper site supervision especially since the HHSBTMSM will reduce the travel time between Mumbai-Nagpur from the current 16 hours to barely 8 hours.
However, the Samruddhi Expressway has already earned the sobriquet of a 'killer highway' with over 95 deaths and more than 300 accidents on the Nagpur-Nashik stretch currently functioning. (IANS - May 4, 2023).
An NGO, Council for Protection of Rights (CPR) Chairman barrister Vinod Tiwari has written to Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis and others pointing out at the complete lack of 'halts' or other basic amenities and facilities that are leading to accident on the expressway.
He has demanded that the HHSBTMSM be closed for all traffic till all the facilities like drinking water, baths-toilets for men and women, food courts, petrol stations, mini shopping plazas, are provided as promised by the government and travel on it becomes absolutely safe and accident-free for people.
The BJP is still the favourite to win the Assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh next year but it is now losing 108 seats as the Samajwadi Party rises rapidly, while in Uttarakhand and Punjab, Congress is making a strong comeback, as per the ABP-CVoter-IANS 5-State Snap Poll.
The awards were presented by the President at the civil investiture ceremony held in two parts, of 45 minutes each in the morning and evening, at the Rashtrapati Bhavan.
According to police, the injured were rushed to a government hospital, which referred 13 victims to Jodhpur hospital as their condition was critical.Fire brigades from Pachpadra, Balotra, and Barmer refinery were pressed into service to douse the flames.
Amid crisis, the Congress in poll-bound Punjab is all set to welcome an MLA from Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) who has resigned from the party. Sidhu has been demanding the replacement of Deol, who had represented former Director General of Police Sumedh Singh Saini in cases related to the 2015 sacrilege and subsequent police firing on protesters.
Chinese frontline troops at the China-India border are getting prepared in logistics for the upcoming winter, with several new measures and facilities revealed for the first time to improve the living and working condition of officers and soldiers, which have further boosted their morale as well as the capability to patrol and execute tasks in the high-altitude region during harsh weather.
Two of his associates, Ashok Tiwari and Ashish Shukla, have also been convicted. Judge Pawan Kumar Rai of a special MP/MLA court in Lucknow held Prajapati guilty of gang rape charges in the case under Sections 482/378/407 of the Indian Penal Code.
