Bridge in Uttarakhand, washed away in flash flood, rebuilt in 8 days
The Uttarakhand flood was triggered after a chunk of a glacier - which experts said was 15 football fields long and five across - broke off from the main structure and fell into a small river.
A bridge in Uttarakhand, which was washed away in February 7 flash flood, was rebuilt by the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) in just eight days. The structure, called Bailey bridge, was inaugurated on Thursday.
"We have inaugurated 200-feet-long Bailey bridge for traffic movement. The bridge has been built in eight days," BRO's chief engineer AS Rathore told news agency ANI.
The bridge is located in Raini village, in Tapovan area of Chamoli district, which was affected the most by the flash flood caused by glacier burst. The Rishiganga Hydropower Project, which was being built in the area, was washed away along with a dam.
Also watch: How people of Raini village first warned people of glacier breach
Another hydroelectic project was also swept away in the tragedy in which more than 70 people were killed and over 200 are still missing.
The flood was triggered after a chunk of a glacier - which experts said was 15 football fields long and five across - broke off from the main structure and fell into a small river.
The roaring deluge of water, rocks and soil hurtled down the V-shaped valley in the mountainous region, sweeping away homes, roads and bridges.
Many expert blamed climate change for this tragedy, but locals also highlighted the rampant construction going on in the ecologically fragile area.
A group of experts formed by the government said on Wedesday that the February 7 flood not "immediately" a human-induced disaster. The scientists of Defence Geo-Informatics Research Establishment - a premier research body under the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) - said that global warming and heating up of the Himalayas could be the main reasons for the glacial breach in Chamoli district.
