M A I N   N E W S

Crumbling bridges a big worry
Arteev Sharma
Tribune News Service

Jammu, September 6
In flood-ravaged Jammu and Kashmir, bridges are tumbling like ninepins. On the fifth day of flash floods caused by incessant rain, two bridges, including a portion of a bridge constructed last year, collapsed following strong currents in the Tawi in Jammu.

The bridge, which was inaugurated by Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on May 26 last year, had come up at the cost of Rs 89.05 crore.

A part of the bridge connecting the approach road from the Ware House side collapsed this morning, while a portion of another bridge connecting the Phalian Mandal area with Raipur Satwari was also washed away.

This has raised a serious question mark on the government’s monitoring mechanism and material used in the construction work. Chief Engineer of the Irrigation and Flood Control Department, Jammu, HC Jeerath said the river was flowing 15 feet above the danger mark. “The alert level for the Tawi is 14, while the danger mark is 17 feet. The evacuation of people living along the banks takes place when the river water hits the 22-foot mark. The river was flowing at 32 feet this morning,” he said.

“The collapse of a portion of the bridge constructed just a year ago is surprising. A high-level inquiry should be conducted in a time-bound manner to fix the responsibility. This is perhaps the first major flooding in the river since the inauguration of the bridge. It clearly could not withstand the pressure of the strong currents,” said Raman Sharma, an RTI activist.

He said the government should put up signages on all bridges alerting people not to use them during rainy season.

The district administration has closed all bridges over the Tawi in Jammu for traffic following rising water level.

Traffic came to a standstill for almost eight hours today in the winter capital due to the closure of bridges.

Minister for Roads and Buildings Abdul Majid Wani rubbished the charge of use of substandard material in the construction of bridges, saying it was “beyond the control of any human approach”.