Pune: A tragic bridge collapse in Maharashtra’s Pune district on Sunday afternoon claimed the lives of four people and left over 50 injured, raising serious concerns about infrastructure safety, administrative inaction, and crowd management. The nearly 30-year-old bridge, located over the Indrayani River near Talegaon, gave way under the weight of a large number of tourists, sending many plunging into the river swollen by recent heavy rains.
The bridge, which led to the popular tourist destination of Kundmala, had seen a surge in footfall in recent months. Authorities estimate that nearly 8,000 people were using the bridge every weekend. Despite repeated warnings from locals and mounting foot traffic, the structure had neither been audited for safety nor repaired.
According to officials, the bridge was structurally outdated and not designed to bear such crowds. Measuring 470 feet in length and just four feet in width, the bridge consisted of three distinct sections: a 70-80 foot stone slope, two 100-foot-long iron segments, and a 200-foot cement slab. So narrow was the bridge that, under normal circumstances, only one two-wheeler and a couple of pedestrians could cross at a time. However, at the time of the collapse, over 100 people, along with multiple motorcycles, were crowding the span—far beyond its capacity.
Despite a visible warning board at the entrance, crowds routinely ignored restrictions. Potholes dotted the pathway, causing two-wheelers to swerve and collide. In the absence of official repairs, locals had attempted to cover the holes with makeshift cement blocks, a stopgap solution that only added to the danger.
Rescue operations began immediately and went on for nearly 15 hours, concluding on Monday morning. Officials confirmed the rescue of 55 people. Of the four confirmed dead, three have been identified so far. Eyewitnesses described the horrifying moment when the bridge began to shake before collapsing entirely. “It trembled for five minutes. People screamed and jumped. I held onto a pipe in the water for 15 minutes before I could pull myself out,” said Amol, a survivor.
The tragedy unfolded despite prior warnings. Just hours before the incident, a concerned local had called the police control room to report overcrowding on the bridge. Responding promptly, three police officers arrived and briefly cleared the crowd. However, as soon as they left, people reassembled—this time in even larger numbers. The bridge ultimately collapsed around 12:30 pm.
Administrative negligence appears to have played a major role in the disaster. No structural audit had been conducted in recent years. Locals had sent written complaints to the Public Works Department (PWD) and the Gram Panchayat two years ago, demanding repairs and restrictions on tourist movement. Those appeals were never acted upon. Even basic crowd-control measures, such as permanent police presence or fencing, were missing.
A token effort to place one police officer near the bridge every Saturday was initiated only after repeated requests from villagers. However, this was clearly insufficient. Local political leaders had also flagged the issue repeatedly. In 2017, former MLA Digambardada Bhegde had urged the state government and the PWD to construct a new bridge. In his letter, he noted the daily struggles of villagers, students, and farmers who were forced to walk across the dangerous structure. Two-wheelers and four-wheelers could not pass through, and pedestrian movement was unsafe even under normal conditions. His demand was raised in Parliament but met with apathy from the administration.
In 2023, BJP MLA and minister Ravindra Chavan sanctioned ₹80,000 for repairs to the same bridge. However, the funds were never used, and the bridge remained in a dilapidated state until the disaster struck.
This tragic event has once again highlighted the gap between bureaucratic promises and ground realities. Despite known structural weaknesses, increasing tourist numbers, and visible damage, authorities failed to act until it was too late. Locals are now demanding accountability from the administration and immediate steps to ensure that no such incident repeats.
As Pune mourns the lives lost, the government now faces mounting pressure to investigate the lapses, penalize the negligent, and fast-track the construction of a safer, modern bridge to replace the one that collapsed.
