Bridge falls, vehicles swept away in river at Mahad; 29 feared dead

At least 29 people are missing and feared dead after the rain-swollen Savithri river washed away a 100-year-old bridge on the Mumbai-Goa highway at Mahad 170 km south of Mumbai on Tuesday night, taking with it two buses and at least one SUV. Nearly 24 hours after the incident, there was no sign of either people or vehicles.

At least 29 people are missing and feared dead after the rain-swollen Savithri river washed away a 100-year-old bridge on the Mumbai-Goa highway at Mahad 170 km south of Mumbai on Tuesday night, taking with it two buses and at least one SUV. Nearly 24 hours after the incident, there was no sign of either people or vehicles.

Mahad, India - Aug. 3, 2016: An old bridge connecting to the Mumbai-Goa highway collapsed and was washed away by the Savitri river late on Tuesday night in Mahad, India, on Wednesday, August 3, 2016. (Photo by Satish Bate/ Hindustan Times) (Hindustan Times)

The danger was first spotted by a man who works in a garage nearby who saw the bridge disappear with two buses on it around 11.30 pm. He called up his employer who alerted the police.

Heavy and incessant rain and the moonless night hampered search efforts that had to wait till day broke nearly six hours later, by when three teams of the National Disaster Relief Force (NDRF) and squads from the Navy and the Coast Guard reached the scene.

They used helicopters and boats and rafts to scour the area all along the river’s course till Harihareshwar, where it empties into the Arabian Sea, but found no trace of people or vehicles till late on Wednesday, when operations were scaled back as night fell. The navy and the coast guard have stationed ships off Harhareshwar to try and spot any survivors who may have been washed out to sea.

Officials said the heavy rain in the catchment area at Mahabaleshwar (309 mm in the 24 hours ended 8.30 am on Wednesday) and all along its course upstream of Mahad (230 mm in the same period) had turned the river into a raging torrent of muddy water. This was hampering the search and rescue operations. The experts on the scene said they were at a loss to explain why there was no sign of at least the two big buses. They even used magnets in a bid to home in on the metal bodies of the vehicles.

The state had certified the bridge as safe in the inspection undertaken in May. There was reportedly also pressure from locals not to demolish it, though a new bridge had been built just a few feet away in 2000. This new bridge too has been closed to traffic as a precaution. The traffic along the highway has been diverted along smaller roads in the area.

Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, who first tweeted about the tragedy at 2 am on Wednesday has ordered a probe into the bridge collapse. He also announced a structural audit of all 36 colonial-era bridges along the Mumbai-Goa highway.

The Raigad district collector Sheetal Ugale clarified that the two bodies found near Dasve village were not connected to the bridge collapse. Earlier the senior police officials had said the bodies could have been from the vehicles washed away after bridge gave way.

The Maharashtra state road transport corporation said 22 of those missing had been on board the two buses, four of them crew members. So far, the identities of 20 have been confirmed.

MSRTC officials said they were alerted to the tragedy by the driver of one of the four buses that had left Poladpur for Mahad after 11 pm on Tuesday.

Sanjay Kedar was driving the last of the four buses when he realised the bridge a short distance from Mahad had been washed away. He used the new bridge to drive to Mahad, where he found that only the first bus had reached. He then alerted the authorities to the bridge collapse and said the other two buses that had left before him may have been washed away.

MSRTC authorities said that by their schedule the bridge would have collapsed 10-15 minutes after the first of the four buses passed over it.

According to locals, the British government had written to district administration in 2010 informing that the bridge at Mahad has completed 100 years and its utility period was over. Despite the letter from British government, the PWD gave report saying the bridge was in good condition. Considering the heavy traffic on the route, the PWD had built new bridge parallel to old one in 2000. Despite the new bridge in place, administration allowed vehicular traffic moving to Mumbai from the old bridge.