Vadodara: At least 20 persons died this week after a slab of Gambhira bridge near Mujpur on Anand – Vadodara highway collapsed. The locals had time-and-again complained about poor situation of the bridge. The State government has suspended four engineers/public works department officials in this incident. In a latest development, today the Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel has approved administrative sanction of ₹212 crore for the construction of a new two-lane high-level bridge replacing the old broken Gambhira bridge over the Mahi river near Mujpur in Padra taluka of Vadodara district. The new bridge will be built parallel to the accident-hit bridge and will connect Padra with Anklav.

The Gujarat government in a press release today stated that project to be executed by the Roads and Buildings Department, includes both the bridge and the approach road. A detailed project report has already been prepared, and the tendering process is set to begin urgently. The construction is expected to be completed within 18 months, claimed the State government in release.

According to Superintendent Engineer N.V. Rathwa, the existing Mujpur approach road (not bridge) but its approach road, currently two lanes, will be expanded to four lanes. The stretch from the highway to the bridge, covering 4.2 kilometers, will also be widened to seven meters.

The decision to approve the project follows the recent collapse of the existing bridge, which disrupted transportation between Central Gujarat and Saurashtra. The incident also impacted local employment and student commute. In response, the state government initiated immediate planning for the construction of a parallel bridge to restore connectivity and ensure public convenience.

The new bridge is expected to ease regional transportation and improve road infrastructure in the affected areas. It’s worth noting that the collapsed bridge has created huge trouble for the villagers on both sides who are not able to access local vegetable markets, schools, job places smoothly. They need to travel through alternative route which is impractical to do because it takes much longer time. DeshGujarat