IIT report says Mahad bridge collapse result of natural calamity: PWD minister

The bridge collapse in Mahad last month that swept away three vehicles and nearly 44 passengers was a result of a natural calamity, said a report on the incident submitted by the IIT Bombay. The report has also stated that the bridge did not collapse due to human error.

Public Works Department minister (PWD) Chandrakant Patil, who made public the finding of the report submitted to his department on Monday, said that the report had reinforced the government’s stand that the bridge was fit for the vehicular traffic. He also said that the PWD has decided to allocate Rs500 crore to repair and maintain 100 British-era bridges in the Konkan region.

Two state transport buses and a private vehicle were swept away after the British-era bridge on the Savitri river collapsed on August 3, late in the night.

The state authorities could recover only 28 bodies of the 42 passengers from three vehicles that were washed away. The 88-year-old bridge was located on the river in Mahad on Mumbai -Goa highway.

The government has also estimated the need of Rs2500 crore for the repairs and maintainance of the bridges across the state. “The provision of Rs500 crore for the British-era bridges will be done in the winter session of the state legislature, while the provision for remaining funds will be done subsequently,” Patil said.

The government had appointed the team of 3 IIT experts soon after the incident to look into the matter. It has also announced a judicial probe to identify the causes and the measures to be taken to avoid such incidents in future. The PWD has recently proposed three names of retired judges to be appointed for the probe.