A major bridge of British era got collapsed on the Mumbai –Goa highway due to heavy rain on Tuesday night at around 11.30 pm.
The bridge is built on Savitri River which witnessed a huge increase in the water level because of the monsoon. Around 22 people, two busses and many vehicles are missing after the incident. Heavy traffic jams are observed in this route, for which officials of the district administration and police have diverted the traffic through another bridge not so far.
National disaster management has started the rescue operations with three teams comprising about 80 personals. No traces of vehicles or survivors have been found till now.
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Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis tweeted that “There is no confirmed assessment about casualties since the area is very dark.The administration will ensure speedy rescue & relief operations.”
“There were two parallel bridges: One is a new bridge and one constructed during the British era. The old one got collapsed. The primary reason seems to be the high pressure caused due to flooding of river Savitri due to heavy rains in catchment of Mahabaleshwar,” he added.