Flyover bridge road collapsed at Gujar ki Thadi Jaipur

A mishap took place at Gopalpura Bypass on Tuesday noon at around 11:50 a.m. A big portion of the flyover bridge road built just before the Gujar ki Thadi Underpass collapsed all of a sudden. The only good part is that no one was present at the portion which collapsed else the pink city could have lost lives as well.

What caused this accidental collapse?

Let’s browse through some facts –

1. The sewerage water of Khatipura, Sirsi Road, Vaishali Nagar, Chitrakoot, Sodala, Shyam Nagar Swez Farm and Ram Nagar reaches Dehlawas sewerage treatment plant via Gopalpura Bypass only. Therefore, this sewerage line experiences quite load of the sewer of a major portion of the Jaipur city.
2. The sewer line is located closely intact to the flyover bridge. Chamber is also located here itself.
3. The flow of water increased due to continuous rains in the city. Because of which leakage started from the chamber cutting through the mud and road, gradually leading to the chamber getting collapsed.
4. It was because of the non-stop, heavy flow of water that the road couldn’t itself for any longer. A major portion of this flyover bridge road collapsed up to more than 16 ft. within a few minutes.

Once the chamber collapsed, a portion of the 33 KV electricity line adjoining it also got suppressed. This portion of the electricity line was taken out 5 hours later. An electricity sub-station is located here as well.

The accident

The flyover bridge road started collapsing at around 11:50 a.m. on Tuesday noon. Fortunately there was no one on the site else this mishap could have shaped into a big tragedy. The flyover bridge road collapsed to create a valley of about 15m x 12m in a matter of just 10 minutes. Now another portion of this bridge is also under the threat of collapsing.

https://youtu.be/jzHzMnZc13s

Recklessness causes accidents in future

The sewer line passing through this region was built some 20 years ago. The chamber was built closely intact to the bridge with old stones and other materials. The use of old materials caused the chamber to collapse under pressure of heavy flow of water. Though the sewer line was built 20 years ago, no maintenance has been carried out ever since then; not even once. Even after 13 hours from the time when the accident took place, the sewer line wasn’t diverted.

Another careless step was – They made labourers and workers get into the collapsed area for repair work without proper safety equipment. The water was still flowing and cutting through more mud and materials, causing a risk of more collapsing road.

Some people got lucky and were just saved by inches

The flyover connects several localities to the Jaipur city, which is why you do have traffic moving on here. But luckily no one got caught in the mishap. Yes, many people got stuck mid-way but at least none got into the collapsing road.

Police showed urgency in diverting the traffic from Gujar ki Thadi underpass as soon as they got to know about the mishap. The traffic was diverted to Sodala. More team had to be called to make people understand and go the other way round.

Who is to take the responsibility?

While the accident took place, leaving many people stuck amidst the traffic, officers showed irresponsible behaviour. Rather than thinking of how to deal with the situation, they started their quest for who is to take the responsibility. Municipal and JDA officers searched for who is responsible for the 20-year-old sewer line passing through the region.

How will traffic be affected?

DCP Traffic Hyderali Jaidi told that the traffic will remain diverted for the time repair work is conducted and the flyover bridge gets re-built properly.

1. The traffic moving from Riddhi Siddhi tiraha to Gujar ki Thadi will be diverted towards Shipra Path tiraha.
2. The traffic moving from Dharam Kanta to Gujar ki Thadi will have to pass through New Sanganer Road and then towards Sodala.
3. The traffic moving from Shipra Path to Gujar ki Thadi will have to pass by Aravalli Marg, then to Madhyam Marg VT Road chauraha to move towards Ganga Jamuna Petrol Pump.
4. The traffic from New Sanganer Road which crosses Gujar ki Thadi to move towards Riddhi Siddhi will be diverted from Gujar ki Thadi towards Ganga Jamuna Petrol Pump.

Diverting the sewer lines

The sewer water from Chitrakoot, Shyam Nagar, Vaishali Nagar and a major portion of Khatipura was joined to another line. It has been diverted towards Varishta Marg in Nirman Nagar, Jaipur. Also the sewer line reaching the last end of the bridge towards Gujar ki Thadi underpass has been blocked. It was diverted towards Kartarpura nala.

Estimated repair time

The estimated time frame for the repair work is as follows: