Tale of a Gujarat bridge, constructed in early 2013, but became unusable in a year after monsoon set in

By A Representative

This bridge near Umreth, part of a state highway leading to Vadodara, the hub of Central Gujarat, was constructed one-and-a-half years ago. Soon after monsoon set in, for nearly three months, it became virtually unusable, with long iron rods rising up vertically all over from the concrete surface. Recent heavy rains made things worse for the surface of the road. Despite complaints by Hamidpura village sarpanch Rohit Solanki, the officialdom gave mere assurances to repair it. Local people closed the bridge after vehicles began getting stuck (in a photograph, one of the motorbike rider shows how this happened). Other vehicles simply failed to steer their way through. Finally, the matter went to the district collector, Kheda, who ordered its repair. Currently, the repair work is on.