New bridge in Sangli will be built after monsoon, says minister

KOLHAPUR: State PWD minister Chandrakant Patil has assured that a new bridge parallel to the pre-Independence era Irwin Bridge will be constructed after the monsoon season.

On Saturday, the district administration asked heavy commercial vehicles not to use the old bridge as a precautionary measure.

"I have asked the PWD secretary to prepare a plan for the construction of a new bridge as an alternate to the existing Irwin bridge. Once the monsoon season is over, the PWD officials will undertake a detailed survey and come up with a draft for discussion," Patil said.

Sangli MLA Sudhir Gadgil had approached Patil with the demand stating that the existing bridge was constructed during the pre-Independence period.

The district administration barred heavy commercial vehicles from using the bridge in the backdrop of the recent bridge collapse in Mahad. Moreover, state transport buses have also been asked to take alternative routes.

The vehicles are now using the Madhavnagar bypass route to reach national highway no. 4 (NH-4).

Gadgil said, "Sangli city is connected to the Mumbai-Bangalore NH-4 through Irwin bridge. It is a very important route and the daily vehicular movement is in thousands, including trucks, lorries, tempos, light commercial vehicles, passenger buses and cars. To avoid any untoward incident, I approached district guardian minister Chandrakant Patil and requested him to sanction funds for an alternate road. I am happy to inform that he has accepted the proposal and told his department to do the needful."

The new bridge would offer more comfort, ease and safety to the commuters.

The construction of Irwin bridge was started in 1927 and completed within two years.

The bridge was never closed for vehicular vehicular because of floods. Even in 2005, when most of the rivers in the Western Ghats were in spate and had reached maximum water level, the vehicular traffic was not stopped. It was a major relief for the administration as the neighbouring Kolhapur was almost cut off after the Panchganga river's water had touched the new bridge at Shiroli.

Around 17 years ago, the public works department had asked the state government to divert heavy commercial vehicles to other bridges as Irwin bridge was very old.