Karwar :Late on Tuesday night, the Kali bridge at Kodibag in Karwar collapsed, resulting in a lorry falling into the river.
The old bridge over the Kali River suddenly gave way on three sides around 1 a.m. A lorry traveling from Goa to Karwar plunged into the river as it was crossing the bridge. Fortunately, local fishermen were able to rescue the driver, Murugan.
National Highway-66 has two bridges over the Kali River. The collapsed bridge, which was used for vehicles traveling from Goa to Karwar, was built in 1983. Although a complete repair was attempted in 2009, only partial repairs were carried out.
A new bridge was constructed next to this one in 2018 and is currently subject to traffic restrictions by DC K. Lakshmipriya due to safety concerns. As a result of this recommendation, traffic on the national highway from Karwar toward Goa has been halted.
Expressing dissatisfaction with this tragic event, MLA Satish Sail attributed it to allowing vehicles onto the deteriorating bridge without fully assessing its carrying capacity.
At present, police have been deployed on both sides of the road following this incident, which attracted many curious spectators who came to witness the aftermath of this major infrastructure failure.