Gambhira Bridge Tragedy: Stranded Tanker Still Hangs After 10 Days Of Collapse As Owner Battles Govt Apathy
Vadodara: Even after 10 days of the horrific Gambhira bridge collapse incident that killed 21 people, a lone tanker that survived in the collapse is still hanging on the bridge in precarious condition and has not been removed by the administration. The tanker, which belongs to Shivam Roadlines based in Ankleshwar is about 12 years old. Even today, this truck is hanging on the bridge in a dangerous condition.
Ramashankar Indra Bahadur Pal, owner of Shivam Roadlines, said, "The officials of the Anand government office are blaming Vadodara and the officials of Vadodara are blaming Anand. We are tired of running from pillar to post to get our tanker rescued from the collapsed bridge” said Ramashankar.
According to Ramashankar, an officer in Anand said that his truck will be rescued from the bridge when the new bridge will be built. Another government officer stated that the army was also requested to move the truck by helicopter, but there is no possibility that the truck will be moved from there right now. Then another officer said that this accident happened because of his truck.
“The tanker was coming from Ahmedabad and it was going towards Dahej to load the chemical consignment. Suddenly the bridge collapsed and I received a call from the driver. It has been 10 days, my tanker is hanging on the bridge and I have to pay installments for the Rs 45 lakh tanker” said Ramashankar.
Tired of being pushed by government offices and hearing the officials' evasive answers, Ramashankar says, "Fortunately, my tanker driver was saved in this accident. I have a loan on this truck and I have a bank installment of Rs 1 lakh rupees every month. If the truck runs, I will be able to pay the bank installment. Now we have to wait for the tanker till the new bridge is built, and if the tanker doesn't run, how will I pay the bank installment?" He has made a representation to the Anand district collector and has said he will meet him on Monday.
The Gambhira Bridge between Vadodara and Anand collapsed on July 9, causing several vehicles, including three trucks, to plunge into the Mahisagar River, killing 21 people.
In this entire incident, people are still wondering who the driver of the tanker standing on this bridge is and whether he is alive or not? Where is this tanker driver and whose tanker does it belong to? Why is this tanker still in the same place? Many such questions are arising in the minds of people even after 10 days of the incident
“A vehicle was passing in front of me when the bridge suddenly collapsed” said tanker driver Ravindra Kumar, who was coming from Ahmedabad and going towards Dahej.
“There was some traffic on the bridge and I was in the traffic. The line ahead was moving slowly. Suddenly, a tanker was coming from the opposite direction and I saw it hit my vehicle.. Within two seconds, the entire bridge collapsed and fell down. The tanker coming from the front hit my vehicle and fell down. My vehicle also went down four to five feet,” said Ravindra.
"Later, I jumped up and came up. I saw everything in two seconds that all the people who were there had fallen down and it seemed that 20 to 25 people had fallen down. Three or four cars fell, including the Echo, big cars and I became unconscious. When I came out and asked for the phone, no one gave it to me and no one was giving the phone to me in the hustle and bustle of making videos. I called my owner and informed him about the incident."
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