Ahmedabad

Part of side portion/rallying of Khokhra railway bridge collapsed today morning in Ahmedabad east.

The incident took place at around 10.00 am today.

One person who is identified as Suresh from Uttar Pradesh is injured in this incident.

It is not clear whether Suresh was on bridge or walking under the bridge on railway track.

Around 55 years old Khokhra bridge connects city’s Kankaria area with Khokhra/Amraiwadi near Anupam cinema.

It is situated over Ahmedabad-Mumbai railway lines.

The bridge is steel-structure made, but the extended footpath like portion that collapsed today was cantilever made using concrete.

City municipal commissioner D.Thara who reached the spot told media persons that though the main portion of bride is safe, it has been closed for traffic for now. It will be made functional again after safety certificate is received from railway.

Thara said the responsibility of maintenance of this portion of bridge is with the railway. She said the city has three such bridges. Two others are in Asarwa and Kalupur. She said these are old bridges and retrofitting of Kalupur bridge is already going on.

While commuters have alternate bridge a few distance away providing connection between Maninagar east and west, the railway traffic has been affected badly due to this incident. It is because the debris of collapsed bridge is now over main railway track connecting Ahmedabad to Mumbai.

Fire brigade has started removing debris from railway track to restore rail traffic but hydraulic cranes and other equipment will be needed to complete the task effectively.

According to Divisional Railway Manager(DRM) of Ahmedabad division of Western Railway, if equipment arrive on time, the railway traffic will normalize by 9.00 pm today evening.

He said the Shatabdi Express arriving from Mumbai will be short terminated at Nadiad.

He said passengers are informed about delay or short-terminations of trains.

He said buses are being arranged to carry passengers from the point of termination to their destinations. He said Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation(AMC) has also extended its support for this arrangement.

– DeshGujarat