A portion of Ellisbridge deck slab collapses

AHMEDABAD: A large portion of deck slab of Ellisbridge collapsed three days back. It seems, not many have even acknowledged the incident, a sign of severe neglect by the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) towards this 124-year-old icon.
It was almost one-and-a-half years ago that the AMC had included the structure in its list of industrial heritage properties.It was under this bridge that Mahatma Gandhi addressed masses on the Sabarmati riverbed. An iconic picture of the event was taken by Major Balvantrai J Bhatt in which Gandhiji is addressing almost 50,000 Amdavadis on March 8, 1930.
For almost seven months now, the engineering department of the AMC is sitting over the proposal for restoration of Ellisbridge, even after STUP consultancy submitted its report on the condition of the bridge. A budget was also earmarked for the repair works early this year, but authorities are yet to move the file before the new municipal commissioner Mukesh Kumar.
"An inspection was carried out eight months ago by city engineers and members from the heritage department and a detailed report of the bridge was submitted to the earlier municipal commissioner D Thara," said a senior AMC official.
The proposal by STUP consultancy claims that it could be turned into a walkway for Amdavadis and even for cyclists going to the other side of the city.