6 hurt as bridge collapses in Chamba

Balkrishan Prashar

Chamba, October 20

The Parel bridge over the Ravi that links Sarol with the Chamba-Tissa road and the Pathankot-Chamba national highway collapsed on Thursday at 8 am, leaving six persons injured. A car and a truck were also damaged. One of the injured was referred to the Tanda hospital. On learning about the bridge collapse, people in large numbers gathered at the spot, which is 6 km from the town.

A resident, who had come to see his kin off at the bus stop along the Pathankot-Chamba national highway, saw the bridge crumbling.

HP PWD (Chamba Division) Executive Engineer Jeet Singh Thakur said it was a pre-stressed balanced cantilever bridge spread over 94.5 m. It was constructed with an outlay of Rs 1.99 crore and the work was awarded to a construction company based in Panchkula in 2002. The work was completed before May 2005, he added.

Meanwhile, Superintendent of Police, Chamba, Dr Virender Tomar, in a press release, stated that an FIR under Sections 336, 337 of the IPC against the contractor of Parel bridge had been registered at the Chamba Sadar police station on the complaint of a nearby Haripur village resident, Vishal Kashyap. “A probe into the incident is under way,” the SP stated.

Chamba DC Sudesh Mokhta said a departmental inquiry into the bridge collapse had been initiated by the PWD. He said assistance had been provided to the injured as per provisions of the relief manual. The collapse has sparked a controversy with the Assembly elections nearing. It may snowball into a poll issue. The construction work was awarded during the coalition government of the BJP and the Himachal Vikas Congress.