Manmad (Amen Sheikh): A section of the Manmad railway over bridge along the Pune-Indore highway in Maharashtra collapsed in the wee hours of Wednesday affecting traffic movement along the highway, official sources. There were no immediate reports of any loss of life or injury in the incident. An official said that a section of the British era railway over bridge collapsed in Asun area along the Pune-Indore Highway.
According to the officials, there were no vehicles present on the road at the time the section of the over bridge collapsed which prevented any loss of life or injury. The cause of the over bridge collapse was not immediately known. The sudden collapse of the railway over bridge borught the vehicular traffic to a complete standstill along the Indore Pune Mahama Marg.
The traffic coming from Pune to Indore has been diverted via Malegaon. Likewise, the traffic from Indore bound for Pune has been rerouted through an alternate route till the road is cleared for traffic. Local sources said that the accident took place between 5:30 and 5:30 am today morning when no vehicles were present on the over bridge.
It is learnt that the highway came under the domain of the Public Works Department until recently. For the last 15 years, this bridge has been handed over to the toll company MMKPL on BOT basis. The same company has been entrusted with the maintenance work of the highway. There has been a consistent demand to bypass the said stretch for safety reasons.
