Mangaluru: Dakshina Kannada deputy commissioner Sasikanth Senthil has decided to request the public works department (PWD) secretary to seek an internal inquiry into the collapse of Moolarapatna bridge in the district. The Major District Road (MDR) coming under the PWD had collapsed on Monday evening.
“We require a deeper technical analysis through experts to know the reasons for the collapse of the bridge. On Thursday, I will write to the PWD secretary requesting for an internal inquiry,” Deputy Commissioner Sasikanth Senthil who visited the collapsed bridge on Tuesday told Deccan Chronicle.
“Alternative arrangements have been made for the movement of people,” he said.
Local people informed the officials who visited the spot that the bridge was already damaged before it collapsed and blamed rampant sand mining for the incident.
Meanwhile after the collapse of the bridge at Moolarapatna, activists and environmentalists fear several other bridges in Dakshina Kannada and Udupi districts could be in danger due to illegal sand mining which is rampant below the bridges. "As per rules, no sand mining is allowed below the bridge, 250 metres downstream and 500 metres upstream of the bridge. But illegal sand mining is so rampant that they violate all the rules,”NECF state secretary Shashidhar Shetty told Deccan Chronicle.
“In a letter dated September 21, 2015, the NHAI Project Director had written to the Udupi and Dakshina Kannada deputy commissioners to ban sand mining near major bridges along National Highway 66,” Shetty said.
However, last year, the authorities gave permission for stacking sand 40 metres away from the Project Centre Line of the NH.
“They might have given permission for stacking but in some places the contractor would be involved in sand mining in the banned area below the bridge. There could be many other bridges in both the districts which face danger,” he said.
“For example there is rampant sand mining below the bridge at Gurupura. The bridge dates back to the British era. If sand mining continues, this bridge too might collapse,” he warned.
