Chowrangi

The repercussions of the collapsed bridge transcend the unfortunate souls who lost their lives. The message that it sends across is most disturbing and painful. If high-profile projects in the nation’s commercial capital can turn up like this, what about those a little lower on the scale? and what about those projects which haven;t been inaugurated by the president himself?

Government officials don’t get tired of touting the benefits of big dams and its a fact that country badly needs the dam, but For instance, just imagine what horrible catastrophe would happen if any of those dams would end up like the unfortunate Karachi bridge? Its not just a fall out of a bridge, but its a symbol of the incompetency. An inquiry has, in any case, has been ordered by both the President and Prime Minister whereas four officials of NHA have been suspended.

In a newspaper report, according to the National Highway Authority (NHA) , the bridge had been completed two years ago but a fault developed in its design and foreign experts were approached for consultation. A team of German experts had suggested to the NHA to reduce the risks at the bridge. The government has now blacklisted the National Logistics Cell (NLC) from future construction projects. It remains to be seen, however, whether any heads are going to roll amongst the big fish.

The bridge wasn’t a relic or an ancient piece of architecture. It wasn’t a holiday suspension bridge which fell down on a closed day with silence. Piracha chowk is one of the most busiest juncture in the megapolis of Karachi and the Rs 3.50 billion bridge was touted with as much fanfare as possible. The bridge proved to be a house of cards just after 26 days of its inauguration by the hands of the president of Pakistan. The unfortunate vehicles on the bridge at that sad point in time slipped down and fell on the vehicles moving under the bridge. Dozens of person died and many got injured. The psychological effects on the citizens is also very colossal.

In fact Karachites have become sort of bridge-phobic. The collapse of Karachi Northern Bypass Bridge in Shershah has created a panic in the citizens and they have become very apprehensive of other bridges across the city. Bikers and motorists are avoiding the bridges as much as possible, and the passengers who previously used to stand under the shade of the bridges are no longer there. They are preferring scorching sun and beating rain over standing under the bridges. They feel very fearful when passing through the bridges across the city.

Alarming thing is that other bridges in the city of Karachi have also been reported in rickety condition. Bridges of Natha Khan, Teen Hatti, Ghariabad, Liaquatabad and many other bridges are said to be in bad condition. Authorities should at once start a complete, thorough and expert survey of all these bridges to keep the citizen safe from any other sad event like what happened at Shershah.

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