Dehradun: A day after the collapse of an under-construction bridge in Roorkee town of Haridwar district, the state government has constituted a committee for the preliminary investigation of the incident.
The bridge, which is very important for the Roorkee town, is being constructed by the state’s Public Works Department (PWD). The bridge will be very helpful for the locals and pilgrims during “Kanwad yatra”. The construction of the iron bridge is to be completed by the end of February 2025. Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami had made an announcement for the construction of the bridge.
A chief engineer of PWD heads the probe committee
The 3-member probe committee, headed by a chief engineer of the PWD, accommodates two superintending engineers of PWD, who are posted in Chamoli and Dehradun district. The committee will submit its report containing reasons behind the collapse of the under-construction bridge within seven days.
Questions over the functioning of PWD
Questions are now raised over the PWD following the collapse of the under-construction bridge. PWD is also the construction agency for the bridge. Officers have now started blaming the strong flow of the water suddenly released into the river Ganga. However, this theory is doubtful as there is practice for sending alerts to every city/town before the release of water into the river.
No loss of lives in this under-construction bridge collapse incident
At the time of the collapse of the under-construction bridge, there was chaos on the spot. No worker was present on the bridge during the incident. Thus, there was no loss of lives in this incident. The foundation stone for the construction of this iron bridge was laid by the chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami in the year 2023.
Tough task for PWD to construct the bridge in stipulated time
The collapse of the under-construction bridge has apparently put the state’s PWD in a piquant situation. It will now be a tough task for the department concerned to complete the construction of the bridge in the stipulated time. A proposal for the construction of this bridge was given to the state government by local MLA Pradeep Batra.
