Thursday, 03 AUGUST 2023 | PNS | JOSHIMATH
A part of an under construction bridge being constructed under the Master Plan of Badrinath Dham near Brahma Kapal collapsed into the Alaknanda River on Wednesday. According to the superintendent of police of Chamoli, Pramendra Dobhal, the bridge was a temporary structure which was constructed to carry out the ongoing masterplan works in Badrinath Dham. He said that two labourers identified as Sonu and Raguveer were working at the time of the incident at around 1 PM when they fell into the river when part of the bridge collapsed. The authorities were successful in rescuing one of the labourers but the teams of the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) continued their search for the missing labourer who could not be found till evening. He said that both labourers were working under the public works department on the bridge when the incident happened. The rescued labourer Raghuveer belongs to a nearby village while Sonu belongs to Bareilly in Uttar Pradesh who was missing till late evening. The collapse of the bridge was purportedly triggered by heavy rain on Wednesday. Besides this, the route near Nandprayag on the Badrinath National Highway also remained blocked for about four hours on Wednesday due to debris after heavy rainfall. The authorities removed debris using machines and manual labour and the traffic resumed in the afternoon. The police have also appealed to tourists and pilgrims to avoid travelling to Char Dham during inclement weather.
