Audit didn’t account for monsoon

Indian Navy with Coast Guard and NDRF joined in the rescue operation on the second day of the bridge collapse at Mahad, in the Raigad district. (Photo: Rajesh Jadhav)

Increased pressure due to rain led to Mahad bridge collapse The National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) had carried out a ‘pre-monsoon’ check of the British-era road-bridge over the Savitri River in Mahad that collapsed on Tuesday night. Astonishingly enough, the inspectors did not factor the increased pressure on the bridge during monsoon while carrying out the safety audit and declaring the bridge safe for all vehicles.

The state government has now ordered a judicial probe into how the bridge was announced safe only two months ago.

After Tuesday’s incident, in which more than 40 people are feared to have drowned, NHAI officials have claimed that due to water being released from Kolhapur and Mahabaleshwar, as well the unprecedented rainfall, the horizontal pressure on the arches of the bridge led to the tragedy. The officials claimed that this was something they had not taken into account while checking the bridge for any structural weaknesses in May.

“This is a natural calamity. When we check the bridge we see if the foundation is safe and if the arches can take the load of heavy vehicles of the trailer. The increased pressure due to the water pressure is not something we look into, we only see if it’s safe for vehicular traffic,” said sub-divisional engineer of the NHAI Prakash Gaikwad.

Mr Gaikwad, who is the highest-ranking official of the NHAI in Mahad, said that the bridge’s structural integrity was still intact when the inspection was made. “We checked if any stone was loose by banging on it with a hammer, if the noise it makes is hallow then it means that the cement has given away. Secondly, we check for vibrations made by heavy vehicles at the foundation of the bridge, which too passed the test,” he further added.

When asked why the strength of the bridge during a monsoon and rising water-level of the Savitri was not considered, Mr Gaikwad said that there have been similar situations earlier, but the bridge had never seen any damage. “There have been such incidents earlier when I was not here, but from what I gather the bridge had held its own. Again, this heavy rainfall and the water from Kolhapur and Mahabaleshwar was released causing unprecedented pressure on the archers. The bridge was not built to withstand this kind of pressure,” he said.

Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis has directed the NHAI to rebuild the bridge by August 25 before the upcoming Ganesh festival.