Rain exposes poor quality of roads, bridges in south Gujarat

Surat: Heavy rain in south Gujarat exposed the poor quality of roads and bridge construction work on Monday. Multiple roads caved in in the Diamond City while at few locations in south Gujarat region bridges were severely damaged.
On Monday, from 6 am to 8 pm Surat city received 52 mm of rain while from 6 am on Sunday to 6 am on Monday 138 mm rain was recorded.Surat Municipal Corporation (SMC) received 59 complaints of tree uprooting or falling on Monday. A total of seven cars and five two-wheelers got damaged at different locations after tree fell on them.
“Along with the garden department fire department teams are working round the clock to remove the tree and clear roads,” said an SMC official.
At 17 locations waterlogging was reported following which various teams of SMC started work to remove the rainwater. Road cave-ins were reported from seven areas including Jahangirpura and Vesu.
“In most cases, the road caved in at locations where underground pipeline laying work was done. SMC teams started work to repair the road immediately,” said an official.
In a major incident, part of the approach road to Swargvahini river bridge in Dharampur in Valsad caved in. Those selling products on carts fell down along with their carts. The bridge was constructed around 1.5 years ago. Part of the approach road was barricaded to prevent injury or further damage to commuters.
On Monday, a part of a bridge near Ushker village in Surat district got damaged. The bridge connects nearby villages. The portion got damaged due to heavy rain.
Meanwhile, Palsana in Surat district received 211 mm of rain in the last 24 hours till Monday 6 am while Surat’s Mahuva received 171 mm, Bardoli 149 mm, Olpad 144 mm and Kamrej 143 mm rain during the same period.
On Monday from 6 am to 8 pm, Bardoli in Surat district received 105 mm, Navsari city 99 mm, Jalalpore in Navsari 88 mm and 85 mm rain was recorded in Surat’s Mahuva.