In the wake of Morbi bridge collapse tragedy in Gujarat, a total of 36 bridges have been found to be unfit for traffic after a safety audit was conducted in five zones of Uttarakhand. Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami instructed the officials to examine the bridges.
The PWD department has handed over the safety audit report of 2,618 bridges out of 3,262 to the state government, said officials as quoted by the news agency ANI.
“The safety audit report has been received by the government,” Principal Secretary of the PWD Department, RK Sudhanshu told ANI.
He said that all the district magistrates have been instructed to take measures accordingly, while also adding that the Uttarakhand government has given instructions to set up a bridge bank so that new bridges can be constructed in time.
As per ANI reports, the authorities were directed to submit the audit report within a span of three weeks, and the government was also planning to replace the old-dilapidated bridges with new ones.
The safety audit was conducted by the Public Works Department (PWD) on CM’s directives issued on November 3, in view of Morbi bridge collapse tragedy in Gujarat.
The one-and-a-half-century-old bridge situated over the Machchhu river collapsed when hundreds of people were enjoying their Diwali and Chhath Puja festival holidays on the location. The unfortunate incident led to the death of more than 130 people.
After the incident, Prime Minister Narendra Modi also visited Morbi in Gujarat and chaired a high-level meeting at Raj Bhavan, Gandhinagar, to review the situation.
Till now, the police have arrested nine people in the incident. Out of the nine arrested people, are ticketing clerks, three on-duty security guards, and contractors behind the repair work of the bridge. These people were arrested for culpable homicide not amounting to murder.
