Vehicular movement was stopped on one side of the National Highway-16 connecting Chennai and Kolkata near Rasulpur block in Jajpur district after a span of a bridge on the NH sank on Tuesday morning.
Sources said, local residents first spotted that a span of the bridge has sunk. Fortunately, no vehicle was plying at that time. So no injury was reported. Vehicular movement was immediately suspended on the road.
While the actual reason why the bridge has caved in is yet to be ascertained, local people ascribed it to the low-quality construction work.
“We were sitting nearby when a vehicle passed and a loud sound was heard. We rushed to the spot and saw that a portion of the bridge has caved in. It is due to the use of low-quality construction materials. The bridge was constructed in 2007-08,” said Sridhar Das, a local resident.
On being informed, Kuakhia police reached the spot and streamlined the traffic. They diverted the hundreds of stranded vehicles to decongest the traffic on the stretch. The affected stretch has now been barricaded to avoid mishap.
When asked, Project Director, NHAI, JP Verma said, “It’s a structural failure. An expert team is coming to carry out an investigation. Then only anything can be said about the reason. It’s an old bridge constructed in 2008. Its required maintenance had been carried out.”
“Another expert team has also been called in to take measures so that traffic on the road can be restored,” Verma added.
Informing about the steps taken to normalize traffic on the stretch, RTO, Jajpur, Nilakantha Pradhan said, “People are facing traffic problems. We are now minimizing the load on the other side of the bridge. If the other side of the bridge develops any damage, then the state’s movement will be cut off. So, at the one end of the bridge, Chandikhole RTO is looking into it and we are taking care of this side of the bridge.”