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Maharashtra has 35K bridges and their upkeep poses nightmarish challenge

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4 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

Mumbai ED cracks down on Saleem Doala, freezes properties worth Rs 1.3 crore

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3 hours ago

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June 4, 2026

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Mumbai: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) Mumbai Zonal Office conducted searches at 21 locations across Mumbai, Surat, Ankleshwar and Rajkot on May 2 and 3 in connection with the investigation against “Transferring Organised Company” under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002. The searches and searches against Salim Ismail Dola and his associates have covered Salim Dola’s organised drug network, which includes persons involved in financial transactions from the top to the bottom of the syndicate, including precursor chemical suppliers, chemical traders, manufacturers/distributors of synthetic drug Mephedrone (MD), hawala operators and persons holding benami properties worth crores of rupees. Accordingly, the search operation targeted key links in the illicit supply chain and money laundering ecosystem to significantly disrupt the syndicate’s operational capabilities and financial infrastructure. The search resulted in the seizure and freezing of cash, foreign currency, gold ornaments, and bank balances worth approximately Rs 1.33 crore. USD 2,200 along with foreign currency. Furthermore, documents related to immovable properties worth several crores of rupees located in India and Dubai were recovered, indicating substantial investments made with the proceeds of the organised drug syndicate. The investigation into the matter was initiated by various law enforcement agencies in Mumbai on the basis of multiple FIRs registered against Salim Dola and others in offences related to illegal trafficking of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances. Investigations to date have revealed the existence of a highly organised international criminal network engaged in the procurement of precursor chemicals, clandestine manufacture of Mephedrone (MD), international transport and distribution of drugs, international trafficking of narcotics, collection and disposal of proceeds of crime through viable channels. There are also assets in the names of associates and other individuals. Further investigation is ongoing.

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Maharashtra

Maharashtra : ATS operation in Nanded, Shahzad Bhatti’s supporters questioned, youths detained from Parbhani to

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4 hours ago

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June 4, 2026

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Mumbai: The Maharashtra ATS has unearthed the network of Pakistani intelligence agency ISI and underworld don Shahzad Bhatti in the state and has also started questioning the suspected members. In addition, the ATS is also keeping an eye on his supporters and social media accounts. The ATS crackdown against Shahzad Bhatti’s supporters is ongoing. Maharashtra ATS interrogates some suspects in Nanded city. After receiving information on social media that some supporters of Pakistan-based handler Shahzad Bhatti are involved in anti-national activities, the ATS team detained some of his supporters in Nanded city and conducted an investigation and search. This operation was carried out by Nanded ATS in different parts of the city on Wednesday, June 3. Youths from Nanded and Parbhani were questioned, but these mobsters had no direct connection and were released after questioning. ATS had earlier detained 57 people on charges of having links with Shahzad Bhatti and conducted simultaneous raids in 9 districts of the state and exposed the Shahzad Bhatti connection and interrogated these youths. Later, they were also released. Shahzad Bhatti, Pakistani intelligence agency and Dawood Ibrahim D Company’s Manna Jhangara have conspired to carry out sabotage activities in India, after which the ATS has launched a search operation across the state. So far, 10 accused of the Delhi Special Cell have been arrested in this case who were trying to carry out the conspiracy of bomb blasts in Delhi and Mumbai.

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Crime

NCB seizes 406 kg ganja, arrests 4 accused in UP’s Gorakhpur

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5 hours ago

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June 4, 2026

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Gorakhpur, June 4: The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) seized 406 kg of ‘ganja’ (contraband substance) in Uttar Pradesh’s Gorakhpur and arrested four accused who were taking the contraband to Deoria from Tezpur in Assam, an official said on Thursday.

The NCB Gorakhpur Zone, in coordination with the Uttar Pradesh Special Task Force (STF), achieved the breakthrough when they arrested two persons on Wednesday, a statement said.

Acting on specific intelligence, NCB Gorakhpur intercepted a pickup van on the Salempur–Lal Bazar Main Road in Deoria and seized 202 kg of ganja concealed in the vehicle, the statement added.

During the follow-up investigation, NCB teams conducted further operations in Barhaj town of Deoria, resulting in the recovery of an additional 204.8 kg of ganja and the arrest of two more accused, it said.

With two separate recoveries, the total seizure by the NCB and Uttar Pradesh STF totalled 406.8 kg of ganja, it added.

The four accused were charged with offences under the relevant provisions of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, 1985.

The NCB said that investigation was underway to identify and apprehend other persons involved in the trafficking network and to ascertain the forward and backward linkages of the contraband.

In a separate operation in Maharashtra earlier, the NCB arrested two drug traffickers and recovered 702 kg ganja while busting a major interstate trafficking network in Gondia, an official said.

“The 702 kg ganja was concealed in 100 packets among grocery cargo items, including detergent, toothpaste and hair dye, was recovered and seized,” the official said in a statement.

The seized contraband was sourced from Odisha and destined for multiple Maharashtra-based drug syndicates operating in Nagpur, Gondia, Pune and Mumbai.

In another case, the NCB secured jail terms in a Mumbai court for five drug traffickers, including the kingpin, in a synthetic drug trafficking case.

The convicts were sentenced to imprisonment ranging from 15 years to one year, a statement added.

The Special NDPS Court in Thane sentenced the kingpin Mohammed Arif Yaqoob Bhujwala, a resident of Mumbai’s Chinchbunder, to 15 years’ imprisonment, along with a fine of Rs 2 lakh, the NCB’s Mumbai Zonal Unit said.

“Parvez Khan alias “Chinku Pathan” and Mohammed Salman Khan, both residents of Chinchbunder, along with Vikrant Jain, a resident of Bhiwandi in Thane, were awarded five years’ imprisonment each and fined Rs 50,000 each,” the NCB added.

“Haris Faizullah Khan, resident of Bandra West in Mumbai, was sentenced to one-year imprisonment, along with a fine of Rs 10,000,” it said.

The NCB investigation led to freezing of two movable and three immovable properties worth more than Rs 1.5 crore belonging to Parvez Khan alias Chinku Pathan.

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