A section of the 150-metre bridge on Wainganga river in Madhya Pradesh’s Seoni district has collapsed.

Bhopal:

A new bridge built on the Wainganga river in Seoni district, some 350 km from Bhopal, collapsed today – August 30, 2020 – its official date of completion. Though its construction was finished a month ahead of schedule, the 150-metre bridge had not even been inaugurated. However, villagers had started using the structure.

Before and after videos show that a large section of the bridge has collapsed and pillars can be seen jutting out of the swollen river.

According to official documents, the bridge was built at a cost of Rs 3.7 crore under the Prime Minister’s rural road network scheme, PMGSY. Its construction started on September 1, 2018, and was scheduled to be completed before August 30, 2020.

District Collector Rahul Haridas has ordered a probe to determine culpability, saying due action would be taken against those found guilty.

For now, the collapse of this key bridge has affected connectivity between Seoni’s Sunwara and Bhimgarh villages, which come under the constituency of BJP legislator Rakesh Pal Singh.

Continuous rainfall has resulted in widespread destruction across Madhya Pradesh, especially in the Narmada river belt where a flood-like situation has emerged. Following heavy rains, the Narmada river is flowing about 10 metres above its danger mark of 964 metres in Hoshangabad district, near Bhopal.

In the state capital, the famous Chirayu Hospital, a dedicated Covid care centre, was flooded as Upper Lake broke its banks.

120 out of 251 reservoirs in the state are full, requiring dam gates to be opened to let out excess water. Overall, the state has received 815.2mm of rainfall till Saturday morning against the expected rain of 743mm.