Know Your City: Vadodara’s century-old iconic bridge across the crocodile-infested Vishwamitri river

The motorable truss bridge was built during the era of Maharaja Sayajirao Gaekwad III around the time that the iconic 113-acre Sayaji Baug garden – popularly known as Kamatibaug – was dedicated to the city in 1879. The ends, where the truss bridge is connected to land, are adorned with the typical ornate ‘chhatris’ of the Gaekwadi era that are a common feature in most buildings constructed during the reign of Maharaja Sayajirao III. From the end where the walk-through aviary is located, the bridge takes visitors to the enclosures of big cats, monkeys and the hippopotamus.

In more recent years, the bridge was restricted to two-wheelers or vehicles used by the zoo staff for transporting meals to animals’ enclosures. (Express Photo)

For many citizens of Vadodara who are in their 40s, the bridge evokes memories of childhood rides across the city, when the existing Narhari Hospital City Road connecting Fatehgunj to Karelibaug did not exist. Rajendra Shah, former tourist officer of the VMC who had his office in Sayaji Baug says, “There is no written history or date of this bridge but we believe it has been there since the garden was built as it was the only way to connect the two ends across the Vishwamitri.”

“It must be as old as the garden. When we were young, it used to be the common motorable city road as vehicular traffic would pass through Sayaji Baug’s gate no.2 to the bridge from Fatehgunj to Karelibaug, and vice-versa. Later, it was closed to traffic as the civic body built a road and it was deemed that traffic passing through the garden was not a good idea,” he adds.

In more recent years, the bridge was restricted to two-wheelers or vehicles used by the zoo staff for transporting meals to animals’ enclosures. Closure of the bridge has meant that visitors to the zoo must walk about an extra kilometre through Sayaji Baug garden via the iconic 2016-built Jhulta Pul (suspension bridge) to cross over from one part of the zoo to the other. The caretakers at the zoo also take the same route since the closure of the truss bridge.

The decision to close the bridge came after a structural audit in the wake of a recent incident in which another bridge on a stormwater drain in the city’s MS University got washed away during heavy rain. (Express Photo)

Pedestrian bridge with history of its own

The 4.75-metre cable suspension bridge for pedestrians, which currently serves as an alternative route to the closed truss bridge, within the premises of Sayaji Baug and zoo, also has a fascinating history. The original magnificent suspension bridge was built in 1879. It spanned across the Vishwamitri river that flowed through the park in a winding path, and used the then “most modern” European construction technology. It is believed that the bridge was damaged part by part and stood only until 1964 when it came crashing down due to overload during a festival.

In 2013, the VMC sought the expertise of Gurdev Singh, dean of Navrachana University’s School of Environment Design and Architecture, and INTACH co-convenor Sanjeev Joshi for design methodologies of light-weight structures as well as environmentally sustainable architecture to erect a similar iconic suspension bridge with the latest technology.

The design of the new bridge in Kamatibaug is as per the original traditional tension bridge that stood in the garden, but includes contemporary technology and innovation. A sensor at each point on the bridge can tell the load and help the control room maintain the lightweight bridge. The contract for the bridge was handed over to infrastructure giant L&T after the VMC placed a proposal to the company to take up the project.

Although the civic body has now shut the truss bridge, it seems to be undecided about further course of action. Mayor Nilesh Rathod tells The Indian Express that the stakeholders will meet and decide. “The departments concerned as well as the stakeholders will soon gather to decide about the repair of the bridge connecting the zoo or we may take a call about building the new one, if viable,” he says.