The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh News : Footbridge on Sagar project caves in

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Thursday, Jan 10, 2008
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Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh

Footbridge on Sagar project caves in

S. Ramu

Inconvenience caused to hundreds of farmers in three villages

— Photo: Singam Venkata Ramana

Disconnected: The dilapidated footbridge on the Nagarjunasagar left canal on the outskirts of Tettekunta village of Anumula mandal in Nalgonda district caved in on Tuesday causing inconvenience to villagers.

HALIA (NALGONDA DT.): A footbridge constructed on the Nagarjunasagar project left canal near Tettekunta village in Halia manadal caved in causing inconvenience to hundreds of farmers on either side.

The third of the seven piers caved in at 9 a.m. on Tuesday bringing two crucial spans of the bridge to the brink of collapse. Though it was the busy farming time, no one was crossing the bridge at that time. Krishna water has been in full flow under the footbridge.

The 120-by-3-ft masonry bridge was constructed in 1960s at a cost of Rs. 28,000. The officials banned the movement of people on the partially-collapsed footbridge for safety purposes. Either side of the bridge route was closed.

“Right now we can’t stop the water supply. We may take up repair works later,” Assistant Executive Engineer V. Ram Prasad told The Hindu on Wednesday. “Since the footbridge may collapse at any time, we advised people against using it,” he maintained. “While the bridge is located at the 14.539-km point, there are two bridges at 11th and 17th km points,” the NSP official maintained. However, ryots have to trek three km either downstream or upstream to reach their fields. Villagers of Kothapally, Tettekunta and Alwal are in for some trouble due to the present debacle. “The footbridge is the only way for us to reach our fields. The officials have to take the problem seriously,” a farmer Pilltala Kotaiah said.

Chief Engineer Ramachandraiah too visited the spot to take stock of the situation.

The officials have proposed to construct a new bridge replacing the footbridge at a cost of Rs. 80 lakh as part of the modernisation package of the NSP, it is learnt.

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