Today morning at 2 am, a bridge on the route of Mumbai-Goa Highway collapsed due to heavy rains. It was quite an old bridge for bearing good amount of traffic. The exact location of this accident is the area near Mahad region in Raigad district of Konkan. Factually, 80% of this bridge used to hang over Savitri River which is currently flowing with the raging speed of monsoon waters.
Among other vehicles, the officials stated that two main passenger buses directly plunged into the swamped river one after the other. One of them was travelling from Jaigarh to Mumbai and the other bus was heading towards Borivali from Rajapur. It is reported that these two buses have been carrying around 18 passengers and two drivers and conductors each. The number of total casualties has not been ascertained as of now but strict search and rescue operations are underway. National Disaster Response Force teams have started their operations with 80 rescuers and divers. Along with this the Coast Guard has launched a helicopter at 8:30 am to look out for any signs of people in Savitri River.
Sanjay Patil, the Police officer on duty reported that, “Rescuers have not spotted any vehicles or survivors till now.”
Whereas, Rakesh Ranjan of the National Disaster Response Force also said that, “The buses are not traceable within a kilometer of the bridge. Due to downstream current, the buses may have been swept further away.”
The cause of this cluelessness can be the continuing heavy rains which are hindering all rescue operations.
Devendra Fadnavis, Chief Minister of Maharashtra tweeted at 2:30 am saying, “I have spoken to the Raigad Superintendent of Police and Collector regarding the mishap on the Mumbai-Goa Highway. Administration has rushed to the spot for rescue and immediate measures. There were two parallel bridges. One is a new bridge and one was constructed during the British era. The old one collapsed.
The primary reason for the bridge collapse seems to be the flooding of River Savitri due to heavy rains in the catchment area of Mahabaleshwar. Immediately after the incident there was no confirmed assessment of casualties since the area was very dark.”
The massive chaos created by this tragic accident led to closing of the new bridge. It was done to check its structural capability to handle the future diversion. Then at 9:00 am in the morning, one way traffic was allowed to pass via the new bridge.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi also took required cognizance of the incident today morning. He has guaranteed all cooperation in relief work to the Maharashtra government.
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