A tumultuous incident unfolded on Wednesday evening as the RCC beam of a six-lane bridge, a key component of the ambitious Mahakumbh 2025 project spanning the Ganges River, unexpectedly collapsed during construction near the Bailey area. Fortunately, no lives were lost in the incident. The executing agency attributed the mishap to the sudden failure of a roller jack while setting the RCC beam on Gator G-4.
Upon receiving news of the collapse, student leaders swiftly descended upon the site, vehemently protesting against the executing agency. Slogans were raised, and the students forcibly expelled the laborers, employees, and officials involved in the bridge construction.
The ongoing work involved the preparation and transfer of the RCC beam from Bailey to Phaphamau Malak Harhar. On the ill-fated evening, a roller jack on one side successfully lifted the double-sided beam, while the roller jack on the other side failed, causing the beam to fall and break near a drain. The incident drew a crowd from the surrounding residential areas.
The students, attributing the collapse to negligence, intensified their protest, drawing attention to recent bridge collapses in Bihar and Gujarat allegedly associated with the same executing organization. Authorities, responding to the escalating situation, dispatched police to pacify the crowd. The executing agency filed a complaint against the students involved in the ruckus.
The construction of the bridge, a multimillion-dollar project, is closely monitored for quality. The shifting and erection of the bridge components are carried out in the Bailey area without the use of cranes due to nearby population constraints, relying instead on roller jacks. The mishap, attributed to a roller jack failure during beam shifting, occurred before the beam was attached to the bridge structure.
Nusrat Khan, the Project Manager from NHAI, clarified that the incident resulted from a roller machine failure during the RCC beam shifting process, emphasizing that the beam had not yet been affixed to the bridge. Sunil Singhala, AGM at SP Singhala, mentioned the routine nature of such incidents during construction, highlighting ongoing quality checks and security measures.