Vadodara bridge that collapsed was ‘unfit for use’, a letter warned three years ago; 14 people died

The Gambhira Bridge in Gujarat’s Vadodara that collapsed on Wednesday, killing at least 16 people, was reportedly flagged “unfit for use” by local leaders; however, authorities ignored their concerns.

Several vehicles plunged into the Mahisagar river after a portion of the four-decade-old bridge collapsed near Gambhira village close to Padra town yesterday morning. A slab of the Gambhira-Mujpur bridge, which connects central Gujarat to the Saurashtra region of the state, collapsed at around 7 am.

This caused the vehicles passing through the bridge to plunge into the river.

Letters sent 3 years ago

The dilapidated conditions of the bridge were reported to authorities three years ago when a member of the Vadodara district panchayat, Harshadsinh Parmar, wrote a letter to the roads and buildings (R&B) department, saying that the structure is a risk to public safety.

According to a report by the Times of India, Parmar, in 2022, urged authorities to shut down the bridge and declare it unsafe to prevent accidents, saying that they would be responsible if any mishap occurred in the future.

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“As there were vibrations in the pillars of the bridge, I repeatedly demanded that the report on the condition of the bridge be made public. All we were told was that the matter was under consideration. The authorities knew well that the bridge would collapse, but unfortunately, no action was taken,” Parmar said.

Meanwhile, the R&B Department’s executive engineer NM Naykawala, told reporters after the collapse that an audit report on the bridge did not find any major faults in the structure. “There was an issue with its bearings, which was attended to last year,” he said.

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Search and rescue ops on

A team comprising senior officials of the Roads and Buildings Department arrived here early Thursday morning to conduct a high-level investigation, a government release said.

A search and rescue operation was being carried out in the river by the NDRF and other agencies.

Various officials, including Vadodara Collector Anil Dhamelia, reached the spot early on Thursday and inspected the operation while revenue officials and police teams camped here overnight, said the release.

With inputs from agencies