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Journalism of Courage
Barely a month and half after the Damanganga bridge was opened again, the administration finds itself in deep waters. Rebuilt at the cost of Rs 10 crore and reopened in June, the bridge had collapsed in August 2003, taking 30 school children with it.
Two spans of the reconstructed bridge 8212; which even got a stamp of approval from Chennai-based Structural Engineering Research Corporation for its 8216;8216;structural stability8217;8217; 8212; were washed away on Tuesday, soon after water was released from Madhuban dam. And though the Daman administration had taken precautionary measures 8212; closing the bridge to traffic 8212; it has come in for flak for the work done by the engineering firms.
At ground zero, links between Moti Daman and Nani Daman have snapped again. When the bridge collapsed in 2003, the administration had begun a ferry service. But now, even the causeway near Jari village in Kachigam has been washed away.
District Collector M. Modissar says: 8216;8216;It is unfortunate that the bridge could not stand up to the strong pressure of water released from the dam. We had closed the bridge since morning, when we were told about the vibrations due to the pressure.8217;8217;
8216;8216;Now, it is up to the Centre to probe the entire incident. The reconstruction work has been done by NBCC and Rites agency,8217;8217; he adds.
The MP from Daman and Diu, Dahyabhai Patel, says: 8216;8216;Last time, the bridge collapsed due to negligence of the Daman administration, now it did due to the negligence of construction companies. I will raise this issue in Parliament and demand a probe.8217;8217;
But this isn8217;t the first controversy surrounding the bridge: z In 1982, Mumbai-based Shah Engineering was asked to renovate the bridge. Later, experts submitted a report, saying the bridge was capable of 8216;8216;sustaining its weight for barely 10 years8217;8217;.
8226; In 1999, after several complaints from the municipal body, a renovation contract was given to Mumbai-based Bhagat Engineering. This time, Rs 1.26 crore was spent and former administrator Ramesh Negi said the bridge8217;s life had increased to 8216;8216;20 years8217;8217;. 8226; Three years later, the bridge came down, killing 30 children.
No approval for Daman bridge, clarifies SERC
Ahmedabad, August 9: The Structural Engineering Research Centre, Chennai, has clarified that they had not given their approval for the reconstructed Daman bridge, part of which collapsed in the floods earlier this month.
The task of giving its approval for the bridge was neither assigned to, nor carried out by SERC, a spokesman said.
He added SERC was involved only in providing advice regarding repair and retrofitting of a portion of the old bridge in prestressed concrete. This portion consisted of only two spans.
Based on SERC8217;s recommendations, NBCC carried out the retrofitting of this portion of the bridge. This portion is standing even now. He said SERC was not involved in any manner, either in design or certification of strength and stability of all reconstructed portions.
