Mawkyrwat, March 12: A day after the Umshangkhar Bridge at Larem collapsed, Mawkyrwat MLA, Renikton L Tongkhar inspected the bridge on Tuesday.
Speaking to media persons after the inspection, Tongkhar said that during the assessment, it was difficult to ascertain the reason behind the collapse of the bridge because the Umshangkhar Bridge is one of the weakest and old bridges in South West Khasi Hills which is about 50 years old.
“We cannot blame anyone for the incident because the construction of bridges in those days was not designed for big trucks. But as time passed especially this road (Jakrem-Nongshillong) being the only major road connecting South West Khasi Hills and Eastern West Khasi Hills, heavy vehicles with big loads used to ply in the past which may be the reason behind the collapse,” Tongkhar said.
Tongkhar also said that the state government through the PWD (roads) had planned to replace all the weak and old bridges.
“With the incident, we expect that the government will take the matter seriously and replace all the old bridges to ensure that there is no untoward incident in the future,” Tongkhar.
With communication from South West Khasi Hills to Eastern West Khasi Hills through the Jakrem-Nongshillong road has been cut off due to the collapse of the bridge, Tongkhar informed that the PWD had initiated to construct a temporary sub-way down the stream of the Umshangkhar Stream to reconnect the road.
“We expect that the construction of the subway will start soon and will be finished in a couple of weeks to ease the problems of the people who have been affected by the incident,” Tongkhar said.
It may be mentioned that the Umshangkhar Bridge collapsed on Monday morning while a truck carrying loads of rods was passing through it.
Meanwhile, the district magistrate, Mawkyrwat has informed that there are 25 PWD bridges located in different routes in South West Khasi Hills which have become old and dilapidated and can no longer withstand heavy load of vehicular traffic.
Five old and dilapidated bridges were located on the Jakrem-Ranikor road, seven in the Mawphlang-Balat-Gomaghat-Maheskola road, two in the Ranikor Nolikata road, three in the Maheskola- Darengiri road, four in the Nongjri-Nongkulang road, three in the Nongkulang-Maweit road and one in the Rangthong-Rangjadong-Ngunraw road.
Therefore, in view of the condition of the bridges, the district magistrate has promulgated an order under Section 144 CrPC, prohibiting the plying of heavy-laden vehicles of more than nine MT through the routes.
