Dehradun, December 15: The only motor bridge connecting 80 villages to Uttarkashi collapsed on Thursday. This accident cut the connection of around 40000 villagers with the main parts of state.
The bridge was constructed by the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) in place of the main bridge, which had collapsed during the 2013 Uttarakhand disaster. Gangotri, Maneri, Harsil and several villages on the hills got disconnected from the district headquarters.
Uttarkashi district magistrate Ashish Chauhan said, “Atleast 40,000 villagers from about 80 villages in Uttarkashi district were disconnected since the bridge was their only link to any town (Uttarkashi at about 5-6 km from the bridge being the nearest town for the villagers).”
Initial reports say the reason behind the collapse was overload as a truck also went down with the bridge while it collapsed.
Chauhan said, “I have ordered an enquiry into the incident. A committee of the ADM and the superintendent engineer of PWD has been formed who will submit a report to me in 15 days.”
He said that the committee will study the reasons behind the delay in replacing the temporary arrangement with a permanent one.
“Whether the BRO, which was the construction agency for the bridge, left any flaws during bridge construction will also be enquired by the committee,” Chauhan said.