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Maharashtra has 35K bridges and their upkeep poses nightmarish challenge

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2 years ago

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Maharashtra has a stupendous 35,000-plus big and small bridges on roads in village, towns, cities, state or national highways, posing mind-boggling challenges for their regular upkeep and maintenance, with multiple agencies involved, but recording barely 100 structures crashing since 2000, top officials said.

As per government data, under the state’s Public Works Department (PWD) jurisdiction, there are 146 small, 105 big and five long bridges (total 256) from the pre-Independence era, some dating back to over 350 years and still functional.

In the post-Independence era, the state recorded massive development since 1957, with around 16,000 small, 2100 big and 100 long (total 18,200) bridges being constructed.

Besides, there are some 12,000, including 2,000 major bridges, on the national highways crisscrossing the state, an estimated 4,000 (total 16,000) in various civic bodies’ jurisdictions, like some 450-odd in Mumbai, not counting another huge number of bridges on the railway networks.

Despite the huge numbers of bridges, in the past 22 years, barely around 100 medium or small have crashed – 75 percent of them comprising masonry design and the rest raft design – in different parts of the state.

The worst crash was the washout of 106-year-old British-era masonry bridge on the heavily-flooded Savitri River near Mahad in Ratnagiri on August 2, 2016, which swept away two ST buses and around 10 other private vehicles with the death toll touching 40.

There have been other smaller crashes in Mumbai and other parts of the state in the past two decades though with lesser casualties or fatalities.

As per Indian Road Congress (IRC) norms, a “small bridge” spans 06-60 metres, a “big bridge” is 60-200 metres and a “long bridge” is 200 metres plus and can go upto a few kms in length, each posing unique challenges for their upkeep and safety.

These bridges comprise a variety of designs, architecture styles and materials depending on their location, whether linking hills, mountains, passing over rivers, streams, drains (nullah), creeks, the sea (the Rajiv Gandhi Bandra Worli Sea Link or the upcoming Mumbai Trans Harbour Link), flyovers, road over-bridge, foot over-bridge, etc.

“There are prescribed SOPs for checks, routine, pre-monsoon and post-monsoon maintenance for all bridges, but with a staff of around 5,000, its possible to cover only around 35 per cent of the bridges in a year,” revealed a senior PWD officer, requesting anonymity.

As per the SOPs, any initial complaints go to the concerned local PWD office which sends out teams to inspect, and if there are serious problems, specialised team with experts from within and outside (like IITs, IIE, etc.) examine it scientifically, said the officer, who has personally inspected around 1,000 bridges in the past two decades in some of the most hazardous terrain.

Then, the cumbersome work of making reports, proposals, budget estimates, sourcing the funds, setting the time-frame, etc, takes place, and again depending on the urgency of the work, it may or may not be prioritised as paucity of finance remains the biggest hurdle.

A former PWD Chief Engineer of Bridges had suggested to the state government and Union Minister for Roads & Highways Nitin Gadkari to rope in the 30,000 students from civil engineering colleges studying in their two final years to help in the inspection works.

“They can form a part of the local PWD inspection teams and theoretically can inspect all the 35,000-bridges in the state in just a couple of days. This exercise can be done twice a year to reveal all the maintenance flaws and potential risks to any structure,” he said.

The students would be guided by the PWD experts, and it would have proved an invaluable academic field exercise with some incentives like grace marks or extra grades in their exams, etc, but there was no movement on his suggestion, rued the ex-CE.

Prescribing a regular “good health check-up” for all bridges, especially the old ones, a senior Highway Department officer appreciated the Indian Railways for their “constant vigil and dedicated teams carrying out daily, weekly, monthly inspections or biannual surveys of all their bridges” to ensure safety of the hundreds of trains hurtling around the country with passengers and cargo.

“Unfortunately, this zest is severely lacking among the states’ PWDs and virtually non-existent for the national highways authority, though the local civic bodies barely pass out on this count,” the officer said.

Touching on the Savitri River bridge crash, the PWD officer said it was nicknamed a “green bridge” as its fa�ade was completely covered with shrubs, bushes, creepers and small plants – but spelling a “red alert” from the safety aspect.

“Such overgrowth is rarely taken into account, another lurking danger is the dredging of sand from the water-bed in the vicinity, blatantly violating norms which weaken the bridge foundations and make it prone to a crash, overloading during peak hours which hasten the wear-and-tear, allowing vehicles to ply even when the flood levels touch or cross the red level marks, as it happened in the Savitri River case,” he said.

Officers from the Highways Department, PWD, civic bodies and others ruled that “unless regular inspection and maintenance” is carried out for all bridges – majority are already over 40-50 years old – there can be repetitions of the recent Morbi (141 dead) or the 2003 Daman & Diu (26 dead) type tragedies, with more risks added as new bridges come up practically every month in the massive expansion of the roads and railways in the country.

The inspection tasks are now considerably easier with the applications of computers, drones, satellites or other modern gadgets to scan the bridge health without physical presence, though the latest technological advancements come at a high price and are deployed on hardly one percent of all the structures in the state, the officials said.

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Maharashtra

Reliable sources should also be given Jeevan Gaurav Award: Ajit Pawar

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4 hours ago

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January 22, 2025

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Mumbai : “When news comes about me, it is given in the name of ‘reliable sources’. In such a situation, these ‘sources’ should also be considered for Jeevan Gaurav Award one day,” this sarcastic comment was made by Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar. He was speaking as the chief guest at the award distribution ceremony of the Ministry and Legislative Press Association.

Criticism on media trial

Ajit Pawar strongly criticized the media trial and said, “It is wrong to conduct media trial. Even when the judicial process is going on, some media channels broadcast sensational news for TRP. I was accused of corruption of Rs 70,000 crore, at that time I had to face a lot of problems. The allegations were proved baseless in the investigation, yet false news and rumors were spread. In such cases, the media should work responsibly.” Saif Ali Khan case story

Sharing his experience of an agricultural exhibition held in Baramati, Pawar said, “I went to attend the exhibition at 7 am. During this time, I was asked to react to the attack on Saif Ali Khan. I had no information about this incident. Soon after this, the opponents started accusing of deteriorating law and order in Mumbai. The media should give such news based on reality.”

Counting experience

Ajit Pawar also shared an incident from the day of counting of votes in the assembly elections. He said, “In the morning, there was a news that Ajit Pawar was trailing in the postal ballots. Hearing this, my mother got tensed. When the channel was contacted, they told that such news is run for TRP. But the media should broadcast news based on truth and reality.”

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Maharashtra

Strict decisions in the budget to increase revenue: Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar

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5 hours ago

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January 22, 2025

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Mumbai: During the assembly elections last year, the Chief Minister had announced schemes like ‘Majhi Ladki Bahin Yojana’, free electricity to farmers, which put a burden of more than Rs 1 lakh crore on the state treasury. Tough decisions will be taken in the upcoming budget to meet the revenue deficit caused by this and increase the state’s income. This information was given by Deputy Chief Minister and Finance and Planning Minister Ajit Pawar on Tuesday.

The Outstanding Journalism Awards given by the Ministry and the Legislative Press Association were distributed by Ajit Pawar. On this occasion, he told that the budget for the year 2025-26 will be tough and focused on revenue growth. Pawar said that the last budget was a little concessional due to being an election year, but now financial discipline has to be followed for the next five years. For this, full support of Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis will be available.

There will be tough decisions in the upcoming budget

Ajit Pawar said that the upcoming budget will determine the direction of the state for the next five years. He said that instructions have been given to the departments that increase economic income for this. Pawar said that he himself is reviewing various departments every day from 9 am to 7 pm. Plans are being made to increase the economic income of the state, which will be reflected in the upcoming budget.

The government will take concrete decisions for the progress of the state by balancing women empowerment, infrastructure, development works and financial discipline.

Rs 20,000 honorarium to senior journalists

The state government had announced to give Rs 20,000 honorarium per month to retired senior journalists, but it was not implemented. When this matter was brought to the notice of Ajit Pawar, he announced to implement it from April 1.

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Business

Maha govt signs 31 MoUs for investment proposals worth Rs 6,25,457 crore at Davos

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5 hours ago

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January 22, 2025

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Mumbai, Jan 22: The Maharashtra government has signed a record 31 MoUs with investment proposals worth Rs 6,25,457 crore in the field of steel, metals, renewable energy, infrastructure, cement, Lithium-Ion Batteries and Solar Modules on the sidelines of World Economic Forum summit at Davos.

The MoUs were signed on Tuesday in the presence of Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and senior government officers.

CM Fadnavis said, “The MoU signed today paves the way for Maharashtra’s comprehensive growth and development.” He further stated that this marks a new record for securing such a significant investment amount in a single day. Similarly, several investment agreements are expected on the second day as well.

Of the Rs 6,25,457 crore, JSW will invest a record Rs 3 lakh crore for Maharashtra’s Green Transformation and Tata Group will also make an investment of Rs 30,000 crore in multiple sectors.

The Chief Minister met with key executives of several companies and invited them to invest in Maharashtra. Among these, Tata Group Chairman N. Chandrasekaran held discussions with CM Fadnavis during which it was confirmed that the Group would invest Rs 30,000 crore in the state. The CM also met Carlsberg Group CEO Jacob Aarup-Andersen, who expressed interest in investing in Maharashtra.

The Chief Minister assured him of full cooperation for the group’s plans. Additionally, M.A. Yusuff Ali, Managing Director of the Lulu Group, conveyed interest in investing in Nagpur and expanding operations in Maharashtra.

CM Fadnavis held discussions with ReNew Power Chairman and CEO Sumant Sinha about a 15,000 MW pipeline and wind energy projects in the Beed district. Schneider Electric India’s Managing Director and CEO Deepak Sharma also met the Chief Minister. Discussions included the use of AI in the energy sector and strengthening ITIs in the state with assistance from the World Bank. Expansion plans in Ahilyanagar and Nashik were also hinted at. Mastercard APAC President Ling Hai held talks with CM Fadnavis, while Louis Dreyfus Company CEO Michael Gelchie discussed opportunities in agriculture, food processing, international shipping, and financial sectors. Emphasis was placed on enhancing collaboration in agriculture. The CM also met Cognizant CEO Ravi Kumar S. and discussed potential investments and opportunities.

“The series of meetings highlighted Maharashtra’s focus on attracting substantial global investments and fostering economic development,” said the Chief Minister’s Office in a release.

CM Fadnavis in his post on X said, “Extremely happy to witness the historic Rs 3,00,000 crore MoU signing between Govt of Maharashtra & JSW Group, with an employment generation of 10,000 in the regions of Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, Gadchiroli, and Nagpur. Very much thankful to Sajjan Jindal ji for being a part of this historic moment at Davos, which will give a huge boost to Maharashtra’s industrial environment. It will give a big boost to Maharashtra’s industrial environment. The areas of this investment like Renewable Energy, Infrastructure, Cement, Lithium-Ion Batteries, and Solar Modules will play a huge role in our mission ‘Green Maharashtra.”

The government signed an MoU with Waaree Energy with a total investment of Rs 30,000 crore in green energy and solar components. it will create 7,500 jobs. The company chairman Hitesh Joshi was present.

The government inked an MoU with Blackstone-Panchshil Realty for an investment of Rs 25,000 crore for the development of the data centre. It will generate 500 jobs. Further, Blackstone will invest Rs 25,000 crore in Information Technology in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region. It will create 1,000 jobs.

The government inked an MoU with Erulearning Solutions for an investment worth Rs 20,000 crore in education. The government signed an MoU with ZR2 Group for investment worth Rs 17,500 crore in automobiles and EVs in Pune region to generate 4,000 jobs.

The state government and Balasore Alloys Ltd signed an MoU for investment of Rs 17,000 crore in steel and metals. The venture will generate 3,200 jobs. The company was represented by Satish Kaushik at the time of the signing of the MoU.

The state government and Reliance Infrastructure Ltd signed an MoU for investment worth Rs 16,500 crore in the defence sector. It will generate 2,450 jobs. The company was represented by Sateesh Seth.

Powerin Urjaa will invest Rs 15,299 crore in green energy and generate 4,000 jobs. Open Origin India Inc will invest Rs 15,000 crore in green energy to create 1,000 jobs.

Viraj Profiles Pvt Ltd and the state government inked an MoU for the investment of Rs 12,000 crore in steel and metals to generate 3,500 jobs. Neeraj Raja Kochhar, Chairman and MD of Viraj Profiles was present at the time of the signing of the MoU.

Avani Power Batteries will make investment of Rs 10,521 crore in electronics to generate 5,000 jobs in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar. H2e Power will invest 10,750 crore in green energy to create 1,850 jobs in Pune region.

The government signed an MoU with Rural Enhancers for investment worth Rs 10,000 crore in social sectors including hospitals.

The government inked an MoU with Welspun for an investment worth Rs 8,500 crore in logistics to generate 17,300 jobs.

Essar in partnership with Blue Energy will invest Rs 8,000 crore in green energy to create 2,000 jobs.

Further, United Phosphorus will make an investment of Rs 6,500 crore in green energy to generate 3,000 jobs. The government signed an MoU with Olectra EV for investment worth Rs 3,000 crore in automotive and EV to generate 3,000 jobs.

Kalyani Group will invest Rs 5,250 crore in defence, steel and EV. It will create 4,000 jobs. The MoU was signed in the presence of CM Fadnavis and Vice-Chairman & Joint MD of Bharat Forge Limited Amit Kalyani. “Thank you Amit Kalyani for joining this MoU signing at Davos! This investment is special because it is coming to Gadchiroli, which will give better lives to so many,” said the chief minister.

Gensol will invest Ra 4,000 crore in electronics in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar to create 500 jobs. The government inked an MoU with & El Mont for the investment of Rs 2,000 crore in infrastructure. It will generate 5,000 jobs. The company director Kabir Bhandari was present.

BookMyShow will invest Rs 1,700 crore in the entertainment sector to generate 500 jobs. Further, the government signed an MoU with Tembo for an investment worth Rs 1,000 crore in the defence sector. It will create 300 jobs. The company director Shabbir Merchant was present on the occasion.

The government also inked an MoU with AB InBev in the F&B segment for investment worth Rs 750 crore. Kartikeya Sharma, President, India & South East Asia of AB InBev was present on the occasion.

Moreover, the government inked an MoU with CEAT Limited for investment worth Rs 500 crore in automotive and EC to generate 500 jobs.

Bisleri International will invest Rs 250 crore in food and beverages in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region to create 600 jobs. The MoU signed paves the way for Maharashtra’s comprehensive growth and development.

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