For the second day in a row, the Yamuna River bridge in Uttar Pradesh’s Hamirpur district remained totally blocked. Due to repairs, thousands of customers experienced issues on Sunday. At 6 a.m. on Saturday, the bridge repair work began, and it lasted until Sunday night.
There is a technical issue with the bridge’s 14th pillar. An expert team from the Center for Road Research Institute (CRRI) is on the scene and conducting an investigation to remedy it.
In order to ensure safety, barricades have been erected on both sides of the bridge at a distance of roughly 100 meters, fully prohibiting traffic.People must trek four to five kilometers since the bridge is closed. The elderly, women, and young children are the groups most affected by the intense heat and humidity.
The most troubled are those who attend weddings. A wedding procession was traveling from Baripal village to Nandheda village, which is located near the Sumerpur police station, on Sunday.
However, the baraatis had to cross the bridge on foot because it was closed. To go to Hamirpur, the groom had to travel 35 kilometers.The wedding party crossed the foot bridge, proceeded to the opposite side, got into a car, and arrived at the wedding location.
One of the young men in the wedding party, Samim, explained that he had come to see his aunt’s son get married.However, they had to walk a considerable distance in this intense heat because the bridge was closed. The heat and humidity made the trip quite challenging.
The bridge’s shutdown caused issues for patients, schoolchildren, small cars, and other travelers. Arvind Suresh, a local, claimed that although the administration had undoubtedly provided information beforehand, plans for alternate methods had not been put in place.
The government has redirected traffic to other routes, such as Rath-Bisanda-Banda, Sarila-Orai, and Musanagar-Derapur. However, these roads are likewise in poor condition, and traffic bottlenecks continued in numerous areas.
Until July, the bridge will be closed two days a week, according to the National Highway Authority. There are already a few dates set for this:
- 15–16 June
- 22–23 June
- 5–6 July
- 12-13 July
- 19-20 July
During these days, the bridge will be totally blocked, and neither people nor cars will be allowed to cross it. People have been urged by ARTO Amitabh Rai to heed the administration’s directives and choose alternate routes.
