Lives Lost, Now Time Too: Gujarat Bridge Collapse Will Cause 50-km Detour

People will have to travel an extra 50 km as a key Gujarat bridge, connecting Anand and Vadodara districts, collapsed on Wednesday morning killing 11 people.

Four vehicles, including two trucks, a Bolero SUV, and a pickup van, were crossing the bridge when a part of it suddenly crumbled during peak morning traffic hours and collapsed into the Mahisagar river in Vadodara district.

The Gambhira bridge, located near Padra town, was the only shortcut to reach Saurashtra from South Gujarat. With the bridge now closed, the only way to reach Saurashtra from South Gujarat will be Vasad. 

For this, people will have to travel 50 km more. Along with this, all vehicles from South Gujarat will be diverted towards Vasad Road, which is likely to cause traffic jam at the toll plaza.

The 40-year-old bridge, notorious as a suicide point, connecting Central Gujarat, South Gujarat and Saurashtra was constructed in 1986 at a total cost of Rs 343 lakh. The nearly 900-metre-long Gambhira bridge has 23 piers and its catchment area is 30976.00 sq km. 

Lucknow-based UP State Bridge Construction Company had built the bridge.

The collapse of the bridge will have the greatest impact on people going to Saurashtra from South Gujarat and the rural connecting roads of Anand and Vadodara. 

People going to Padra for employment from various villages of Anand area will also have to face difficulties now, although as an alternative arrangement, the traffic has been diverted towards Sindhrot for now. For this, the vehicles will have to take a detour of 16 km.

(With inputs from Mahendra Prasad)

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