In Mahad, disbelief, shock and anger
Residents, who used the bridge every day, cannot believe that a structure certified safe twice crumbled in minutes.
One after another the villagers described how they crossed the colonial-era bridge on the Mumbai-Goa highway without incident just a few hours before it ended up in Savitri River on Tuesday night.
They had no reason to worry: two government agencies had certified the masonry bridge, 4 km from Mahad in Raigad district, as “safe” recently and despite heavy rainfall, there had been no visible signs of damage, or any driving restrictions.
Savitri, which flows from Mahabaleshwar, is usually 15 to 20 feet deep, but relentless rain turned it into a raging torrent, with the level rising to 45 feet on Monday. In a matter of hours late on Tuesday, it hit the 60-feet mark and the fast-moving waters started pounding the bridge’s arches, officials said. The 89-year-old structure — which clearly had undetected prior defects — stood no chance.
Neither did two ST buses, a Chevrolet Tavera and a few other vehicles that plunged into the river. They were carrying over 30 people, many of them residents of Mumbai. So far, 22 bodies have been recovered.
“A portion of the bridge just disappeared, I couldn’t believe it for hours. Only that evening, I had ridden my bike on it and everything seemed normal,” said 30-year-old teacher Shaikh Tabrez, who lives in Kambla village, about 1 km from the accident site.
Like hundreds of residents from nearby villages and small towns, he used the bridge to get to Mahad, where the region’s main markets are located.
“I visit Mahad every day to buy supplies,” said Poladpur grocer Mohan Jadhav. “I went to Mahad on Tuesday afternoon to meet a soap distributor and returned in the evening. I used the bridge like I had done for 30 years. It was raining, but the bridge appeared stable.”
Jadhav was sleeping when his neighbours, who had just learned about the bridge collapse, knocked on his door at midnight to find out if he had returned safely. “I keep thinking about the day; I was just lucky to make it across safely,” he said.
Another Kambla resident, 28-yearold Rajesh Kamble, also took the bridge to reach Mahad on Tuesday. “I even stopped on the bridge for 10 minutes to answer an urgent phone call. When I saw the news of the collapse, a chill ran down my spine. Clearly, the bridge was crumbling without anyone noticing it, and it could have collapsed when I was on the phone,” he said.
Iftekhar Ibrahim Mujawar, 23, who lives near Kambla village, has perhaps taken the last picture of the bridge, constructed in 1928, before it collapsed. “It was a beautiful Tuesday evening because of the rain. My friends and I visited Mahad and nearby areas to take pictures of the river. I took a selfie on the new bridge and you can see the British-era structure in the background,” he said.
The old bridge was a part of the only major road link to Mumbai from the Konkan region, which includes Raigad, Ratnagiri and Sindhudurg districts. The section sees heavy movement of private cars with mostly holidaymakers, and commercial vehicles. The new parallel bridge served only traffic bound for Goa, but following Tuesday’s tragedy, it has been opened to vehicles headed for Mumbai.
Two recent inspections failed to find any structural weakness in the stone bridge. Engineers from the state public works department (PWD) declared the structure safe in May, while the National Highways Authority of India gave an all-clear only last month. It seems the inspectors only examined the pillars, and not the arches, which could not withstand the strong river current on Tuesday night.
Two mechanics who work at a garage located near the now-collapsed bridge’s exit are, so far, the only witnesses to the tragedy. Surjeet Kumar (25) and Basant Kumar Ambesh (33), who live on the floor above the garage, had been monitoring the rising water level from their window when they realised something was wrong: vehicles approaching the bridge started disappearing in the dark. It was around 11.40 pm.
“I saw the headlights of a car, but it looked like someone suddenly switched them off. I waited, but no car exited the bridge. Then, it happened again: headlights flickered and suddenly there was darkness,” Surejeet said.
He drew Basant’s attention to the anomaly and they decided to step out in the rain to understand what was happening. They found that a portion of the British-era bridge had collapsed and unaware motorists were still driving towards it. There were no streetlights.
“When we walked towards the bridge, we heard strange sounds from the river. It was pitch dark so we could not immediately figure out what had happened. Then, we realised that a portion of the bridge was just not there,” Basant said.
The two alerted their colleagues and the group started warning motorists with the help of flashlights. They also informed the police. “The bridge had become a death trap. Once a vehicle crossed a certain point, it skidded and fell into the river,” Surjeet said. “It was really dark so we could not see any people, but we saw vehicles plunging into the waters. I can’t get the image out of my head. It’s disturbing.”
Some officials believe that the buses were on the bridge when it collapsed. The cars followed later.
“No one actually witnessed the collapse so we are proceeding with only theories right now. Only months of investigation and complete recovery of the missing vehicles will help us understand what led to the tragedy,” said an official in the district collector’s department.
A joint team of the Navy, Coast Guard and the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) is conducting the searches. Residents from nearby villages, who know the region well, are also assisting in the operation.
More bodies recovered
In all, 22 bodies have been recovered. None of the submerged vehicles have been located. MSRTC bus driver SS Kamble; conductor PB Shirke, who lived in Airoli, Ghatkopar resident Shewanti Mirgal (59) and her niece Ranjana Vaze, who were travelling in the ill-fated Tavera; Girgaum resident Snehal Baikar (28); and Jogeshwari resident Prashant Mane (25) are among the victims whose bodies have been found.
Strong river current once again posed a challenge to searchers on the third day of the operation, though there was less rainfall compared to Thursday. Eight bodies were discovered on Friday and taken to a government hospital in Mahad, where family members were called for identification.
The first body on Friday was discovered by local fisherman Muneer Mukadam and his cousin. They spotted had two victims on Thursday. “Muneer knows the area well and he has been very helpful,” said senior inspector Lekhaji Shinde of the Mangaon police station.
NDRF commandant Anupam Srivastava said the search area had been extended up to 30 km. “We are using magnets weighing 70 to 100 kg to locate the missing vehicles. We have also lowered sonar cameras used by fishermen,” he said.
There is palpable anger among local residents who blame government engineers for the tragedy.
“There were two inspections, but no structural damage was detected. How is this possible? It’s an 89-year-old bridge,” said Mahad resident Javed Shaikh, who had raised concerns about the bridge’s stability. “Every bridge has a fixed life span. Did it not occur to government engineers that it is an old bridge and that a visual inspection will not be enough to detect the internal damage? The bridge was certified as safe and now so many people are dead. Who is responsible?”
One after another the villagers described how they crossed the colonial-era bridge on the Mumbai-Goa highway without incident just a few hours before it ended up in Savitri River on Tuesday night.
They had no reason to worry: two government agencies had certified the masonry bridge, 4 km from Mahad in Raigad district, as “safe” recently and despite heavy rainfall, there had been no visible signs of damage, or any driving restrictions.
But as the villagers watched an expert rescue team struggle in the rushing waters near the remnants of the stone structure for three days, they admitted they were simply lucky to make it across.
Savitri, which flows from Mahabaleshwar, is usually 15 to 20 feet deep, but relentless rain turned it into a raging torrent, with the level rising to 45 feet on Monday. In a matter of hours late on Tuesday, it hit the 60-feet mark and the fast-moving waters started pounding the bridge’s arches, officials said. The 89-year-old structure — which clearly had undetected prior defects — stood no chance.
Neither did two ST buses, a Chevrolet Tavera and a few other vehicles that plunged into the river. They were carrying over 30 people, many of them residents of Mumbai. So far, 22 bodies have been recovered.
“A portion of the bridge just disappeared, I couldn’t believe it for hours. Only that evening, I had ridden my bike on it and everything seemed normal,” said 30-year-old teacher Shaikh Tabrez, who lives in Kambla village, about 1 km from the accident site.
Like hundreds of residents from nearby villages and small towns, he used the bridge to get to Mahad, where the region’s main markets are located.
“I visit Mahad every day to buy supplies,” said Poladpur grocer Mohan Jadhav. “I went to Mahad on Tuesday afternoon to meet a soap distributor and returned in the evening. I used the bridge like I had done for 30 years. It was raining, but the bridge appeared stable.”
Jadhav was sleeping when his neighbours, who had just learned about the bridge collapse, knocked on his door at midnight to find out if he had returned safely. “I keep thinking about the day; I was just lucky to make it across safely,” he said.
Another Kambla resident, 28-yearold Rajesh Kamble, also took the bridge to reach Mahad on Tuesday. “I even stopped on the bridge for 10 minutes to answer an urgent phone call. When I saw the news of the collapse, a chill ran down my spine. Clearly, the bridge was crumbling without anyone noticing it, and it could have collapsed when I was on the phone,” he said.
Iftekhar Ibrahim Mujawar, 23, who lives near Kambla village, has perhaps taken the last picture of the bridge, constructed in 1928, before it collapsed. “It was a beautiful Tuesday evening because of the rain. My friends and I visited Mahad and nearby areas to take pictures of the river. I took a selfie on the new bridge and you can see the British-era structure in the background,” he said.
The old bridge was a part of the only major road link to Mumbai from the Konkan region, which includes Raigad, Ratnagiri and Sindhudurg districts. The section sees heavy movement of private cars with mostly holidaymakers, and commercial vehicles. The new parallel bridge served only traffic bound for Goa, but following Tuesday’s tragedy, it has been opened to vehicles headed for Mumbai.
Two recent inspections failed to find any structural weakness in the stone bridge. Engineers from the state public works department (PWD) declared the structure safe in May, while the National Highways Authority of India gave an all-clear only last month. It seems the inspectors only examined the pillars, and not the arches, which could not withstand the strong river current on Tuesday night.
Two mechanics who work at a garage located near the now-collapsed bridge’s exit are, so far, the only witnesses to the tragedy. Surjeet Kumar (25) and Basant Kumar Ambesh (33), who live on the floor above the garage, had been monitoring the rising water level from their window when they realised something was wrong: vehicles approaching the bridge started disappearing in the dark. It was around 11.40 pm.
“I saw the headlights of a car, but it looked like someone suddenly switched them off. I waited, but no car exited the bridge. Then, it happened again: headlights flickered and suddenly there was darkness,” Surejeet said.
He drew Basant’s attention to the anomaly and they decided to step out in the rain to understand what was happening. They found that a portion of the British-era bridge had collapsed and unaware motorists were still driving towards it. There were no streetlights.
“When we walked towards the bridge, we heard strange sounds from the river. It was pitch dark so we could not immediately figure out what had happened. Then, we realised that a portion of the bridge was just not there,” Basant said.
The two alerted their colleagues and the group started warning motorists with the help of flashlights. They also informed the police. “The bridge had become a death trap. Once a vehicle crossed a certain point, it skidded and fell into the river,” Surjeet said. “It was really dark so we could not see any people, but we saw vehicles plunging into the waters. I can’t get the image out of my head. It’s disturbing.”
Some officials believe that the buses were on the bridge when it collapsed. The cars followed later.
“No one actually witnessed the collapse so we are proceeding with only theories right now. Only months of investigation and complete recovery of the missing vehicles will help us understand what led to the tragedy,” said an official in the district collector’s department.
A joint team of the Navy, Coast Guard and the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) is conducting the searches. Residents from nearby villages, who know the region well, are also assisting in the operation.
More bodies recovered
In all, 22 bodies have been recovered. None of the submerged vehicles have been located. MSRTC bus driver SS Kamble; conductor PB Shirke, who lived in Airoli, Ghatkopar resident Shewanti Mirgal (59) and her niece Ranjana Vaze, who were travelling in the ill-fated Tavera; Girgaum resident Snehal Baikar (28); and Jogeshwari resident Prashant Mane (25) are among the victims whose bodies have been found.
Strong river current once again posed a challenge to searchers on the third day of the operation, though there was less rainfall compared to Thursday. Eight bodies were discovered on Friday and taken to a government hospital in Mahad, where family members were called for identification.
The first body on Friday was discovered by local fisherman Muneer Mukadam and his cousin. They spotted had two victims on Thursday. “Muneer knows the area well and he has been very helpful,” said senior inspector Lekhaji Shinde of the Mangaon police station.
NDRF commandant Anupam Srivastava said the search area had been extended up to 30 km. “We are using magnets weighing 70 to 100 kg to locate the missing vehicles. We have also lowered sonar cameras used by fishermen,” he said.
There is palpable anger among local residents who blame government engineers for the tragedy.
“There were two inspections, but no structural damage was detected. How is this possible? It’s an 89-year-old bridge,” said Mahad resident Javed Shaikh, who had raised concerns about the bridge’s stability. “Every bridge has a fixed life span. Did it not occur to government engineers that it is an old bridge and that a visual inspection will not be enough to detect the internal damage? The bridge was certified as safe and now so many people are dead. Who is responsible?”
