British-era bridge on Mumbai-Goa highway washed away in flood, 28 missing

It is in the monsoon that the lush green GoaMumbai route turns into a travellersrsquo paradise Instead the idyllic highway turned into the scene of a horrific nightmare yesterday as the swollen Savitri river swallowed a Britishera bridge joining MahadPoladpur along with 28 travellers who were heading towards Mumbai on Tuesday nightAlso read Bridge on MumbaiGoa highway too old Brits had warned state government in 2013The bridge over the Savitri river had been crumbling for quite a few years and had been held up by crash barriers PicsPradeep DhivarAlso read MumbaiGoa highway bridge collapse No rescue operation was possible says fire officialThe disaster struck around midnight when nearly 80 of the derelict old bridge was washed away in the flash floods caused by nonstop rain Since it was dark it is possible that motorists didnrsquot realise what had happened and kept driving finally plunging into the river Two tourist buses and three cars are thought have fallen into the river although neither the vehicles nor any of the victims had been fished out even 24 hours after the disaster struckAlso read MumbaiGoa bridge collapse The men who watched the horror unfoldPranjali Sonawane Sub Divisional Police Officer Mahad who was on the spot said ldquoWe were about 10 minutes away at Dasturi Naka when we received the emergency call at 1145 pm from the Raigad control room about the bridge collapse But we didnrsquot find any of the victims of the vehicles All we found was a bag that we suspect belongs to the driver of a bus that fell into the riverrdquoAlso read MumbaiGoa highway bridge collapse Family friends of missing people hoping against hopeDam releasedIt had rained nonstop over the past two days in the Raigad district and nearly 1000 times the normal rainfall had collected within 48 hours To relieve the pressure in the catchment areas the authorities released water from the MIDC and Ranbajari dams never imagining how that would contribute to yesterdayrsquos disaster at the bridge Soon enough river Savitriwas engorged with the excess water and some time around the midnight of Tuesday it washed away the 82yearold bridge at MahadAlso read MumbaiGoa highway bridge collapse Faulty eticket system leaves total passenger count a mysteryCurrents hamper rescueAn official from NDRF involved in the rescue operation said ldquoMore than 100 people from Mumbai and Pune started the rescue operation but havenrsquot managed to find any of the victims yet Every time we tried diving in we kept getting battered by the strong river currents Even the 300kg iron anchor we used in the operation was no match for the fast flow of the riverrdquoNDRF commandant Sachidanand Gawade said ldquoAround 4 am a team of 120 jawans 12 boats and drivers rushed to the spot but due to heavy rains the river water is turned muddy due to which its a tuf timer for divers as due to muddy its difficult to see inside the river Our jawans has also used Magnets so that such magnets could help us to get some clues about the buses While one of the magnets in huge quantity has stuck up and with help of crane we will able to pull it outrdquoExperienced divers from the Coast Guard had no luck either as the force of the current would neither allow them to swim properly nor could they see anything At the same time the lashing rains continued and rendered the Coast Guard helicopters uselessCrumbling bridgeThe bridge had been built during the British era in 1928 for several years it had been crumbling to bits and was barely held up with the help of patchwork repairs and supportive barriersDespite the fact that a new bridge was built right next to it the old bridge continued used by motorists going from Goa to MumbaildquoThe bridge was too old and weak to be used In 2013 British experts had written to the local tehsildar informing that the bridge should be closed down but nobody took action They could have easily either repaired it or shut it down without affecting motorists too much since they could keep using the new bridgerdquo said Vijay Jadhav vicepresident of the Mahad division of Shiv Sena in Mahad