After Vadodara incident, Ahmedabad civic body to inspect bridges that are over 15 years old
The city has over 92 bridges used regularly for vehicular movement. Of these, 38, including flyovers and river bridges, will be inspected
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Mujpur-Gambhira bridge over river Mahisagar (AP)Two days after the collapse of the Mujpur-Gambhira bridge over river Mahisagar, which has claimed 20 lives so far, the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) has decided to prioritise inspection of all bridges in the city that are more than 15 years old. An announcement in this regard was made by the Standing Committee Chairman, Devang Dani, and Deputy Municipal Commissioner Mirant Parikh on Friday.
In a video posted on social media handles of the civic body, Parikh said that there are 92 bridges in Ahmedabad that are used regularly for vehicular movement. “Officials from the Bridge Project Department will first carry out visual inspections of all such bridges. Wherever necessary, immediate repair work will be carried out to ensure structural safety. Within the next week, structural stability certificates will be obtained through consultants, and a detailed assessment report will be compiled,” he said.
On the 92 bridges, 38 bridges, including flyovers and river bridges over the Sabarmati, built in or before 2010 will be inspected.
According to Parikh, as per the periodic annual inspection routine, a government-approved agency conducts structural checks of bridges. Based on these inspections, minor repair work is regularly carried out. According to the latest periodic inspection, minor repairs have already been done. Work on the Ellisbridge, which is a heritage structure, is on, Parikh said.
Similarly, following a review, minor repairs were recently carried out on the Chimanbhai Patel bridge, which connects to the 132-feet Ring road, Parikh said.
“According to Road & Building guidelines, periodic inspections are mandatory. However, as an extra precaution, AMC has decided to identify all river bridges, which are old, for conducting load tests. Load tests are generally done after construction before a bridge is issued an NOC (No-objection certificate). AMC now wants to recheck whether these old bridges can still carry the load they were originally designed for. This step is being taken as a proactive measure to avert any incident like this (the Gambhira collapse) in the future,” Parikh said in the video posted on the AMC’s X handle.
Besides bridges, the civic body is addressing the issue of waterlogging in the East, South, North, and Central zones through the Eastern Trunk Line project. This will help divert excess water to the river and sewage treatment plants (STPs). The project is nearly complete, with only pipe-fitting and welding work pending. It is expected to be operational in the next 2-3 days, he added.
Similarly, in the West, North-West, and South-West zones, drainage issues are being addressed through the Western Trunk Line project. Water from Vaishnodevi to Fatehwadi will be diverted via STPs.
Due to micro-tunneling and technical challenges, the Western Trunk Line project has been delayed by a month but is expected to be completed soon, Parikh said.
Till then, in peripheral areas, including AUDA zones like Bopal, Ghuma, and Shilaj, excessive water will be diverted through the completed portion near Fatehwadi.
(Jay Jani is an intern with The Indian Express)
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