Vadodara: Repair work on the Gambhira bridge over the Mahisagar River has reached near completion, as the installation of a new iron link span on the damaged section has been completed successfully.

A portion of the Gambhira bridge connecting Vadodara and Anand districts had collapsed seven months ago, claiming the lives of more than 20 people and disrupting vehicular movement between the two cities. With the successful installation of the link span, traffic is expected to resume partially in the coming days.

The damage to the bridge had caused severe inconvenience to residents of several nearby villages, especially office-goers and students travelling to Vadodara for work and education. Authorities had been making efforts to restore the movement of small vehicles at the earliest. The state government had assigned the complex repair work to Vishwakarma Marines Group, which completed the challenging task within the stipulated time using specialised fabrication technology.

In a notable gesture of social responsibility, the link-span installation work was carried out free of cost. Ketan Gajjar from the Marine Emergency Response Centre of Vishwakarma Group supervised the project and provided the service without charging any fee to the state government. The damaged portion of the bridge has been reconnected using a fabricated steel structure, ensuring that the strength and stability of the bridge is maintained.

Anand MP Mitesh Patel visited the construction site, reviewed the progress, and expressed satisfaction over the pace of work. He said that after the final safety verification, the bridge is expected to be opened for traffic within about a week.

Separately, Anklav MLA and GPCC president Amit Chavda also inspected the bridge work at Gambhira and urged the government to reopen the bridge only after ensuring complete safety checks.

With the bridge set to reopen, local residents, daily commuters, and traders are expected to get major relief. The government will soon decide the reopening date, after which movement of light vehicles will be allowed. Pedestrians and two-wheelers will be able to pass easily, saving both travel time and fuel. After a gap of nearly seven months, partial restoration of traffic on the Gambhira bridge will significantly improve connectivity in the region.

Meanwhile, construction of a new bridge alongside the old structure is also progressing at full pace. As part of long-term planning, the administration has accelerated work on the new bridge so that traffic problems can be permanently resolved in the future. For now, with the link span installed on the old bridge, the vital road link between Anand and Padra is set to become operational again. DeshGujarat