Bridge lays PMC bare

PUNE, Oct 12: The Pune Municipal Corporation today closed the 78-year-old Sangam bridge, connecting Maldhakka chowk and Kamgar Putala cho...

PUNE, Oct 12: The Pune Municipal Corporation today closed the 78-year-old Sangam bridge, connecting Maldhakka chowk and Kamgar Putala chowk, for vehicular traffic after the bridge developed major cracks this afternoon.

Official sources said the surface of the bridge developed cracks when a speeding tanker passed-by. The manhole of the sewerage line on the bridge was severely damaged. A portion of the surface, admeasuring about 5 X 5 feet, caved in because of water pressure, the sources said.

The civic officials, after getting the intimation, immediately alerted the police while a team also rushed to the spot. The police closed the bridge for traffic by putting barricades at both ends of the bridge as a precautionary measure.

The closure of the bridge created long traffic snarls in the evening. Utter chaos prevailed on Raja Bahaddur Road, new Sangam bridge, Juna bazaar, station road and Dengle bridge.

This is for the second time that the PMC had to close the bridge for some major repair works. The civic authorities had noticed major cracks on the pillars of the bridge on December 31, 1991 when the water-level had gone down considerably. The bridge was closed for traffic for few day till the repair work was completed.

The police and municipal corporation had banned heavy vehicles on the bridge as a precautionary measure after completing the repair work. However, the ban on heavy vehicles was lifted after a few months without any explanation.

The Sangam bridge, constructed in 1920, was originally meant for the railway. However, the British government decided to use the bridge for vehicles while another bridge was constructed parallel to the existing one for railway. The civic officials admitted that no major repair work of the bridge was undertaken during the past 78 years.

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The sources said the road department had so far sent two proposals for immediate repair works of the bridge which include cement filling with the use of chemicals estimated cost Rs. 35 lakh and widening of the bridge.

The road department had suggested that the bridge be made 80 feet wide as the current 30 feet width was not in a position to withstand the heavy traffic. The PMC could not make the financial provision for the proposals due to lack of funds.

The PMC has allotted only Rs 8 lakh for the repair and maintenance of all the bridges in the current financial year.