Pune: Explosions Of Confusion Among Locals Even Before Demolishment Of Old Bridge At Chandani Chowk

Siddhi Dharmadhikari

Pune, 29th September 2022: The old flyover in the Chandani Chowk area will be demolished with explosives on 2nd October at 2 am. The administration has also announced that the 200-meter area will be completely depopulated by stopping the traffic.

However, the administration has not yet given any instructions to the owners of buildings or residents of societies located at some distance or within 100 to 200 meters from the bridge regarding the possible situation and precautions to be taken during the demolition of the bridge. There are ‘explosions’ of confusion in this area before the bridge is demolished. Therefore, it is being demanded that the administration should provide proper information to the citizens.

To solve the traffic jam at Chandani Chowk on the Mumbai-Bangalore National Highway, the bridge at the Chowk will be demolished for which successful preparations have been made by the administration.

600 kg of explosives will be used to demolish the bridge. The bridge will be demolished on October 2 at midnight. This bridge will collapse in just five to six seconds.

As many as three lakh ten thousand vehicles travel through Chandani Chowk every day during morning and evening office hours. After demolishing the bridge, the road will be cleared and traffic will be closed from 11.00 pm October 1 to 8.00 am on Sunday (October 2).

The administration has also planned the traffic and the administration has announced that the area up to 200 meters will be depopulated during the blast period. However, there are no instructions from the administration regarding caution to the residents of societies and buildings in the area near the bridge.

Baba Shinde, President of the State Transporters’ Representative Federation, has already requested the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) to give proper instructions to the locals regarding the bridge demolition explosion and the precautions to be taken by the citizens.

Shinde said that the administration has announced the demolition of the bridge. There are big societies like Megh Malhar, Zinnia, Alpha, Shivpadam, Prathamesh, Sumidha etc. in the area of ​​100 to 200 meters from the bridge.

He added, “My hotel building is also at a distance from the bridge. However, the administration has not yet provided us with any official information regarding the vigilance or the effects of the blast or not. A letter has also been given to the project officers of the authority in this regard. But, he did not get any reply.”

Since the Chandani chowk bridge will be blown up, the citizens living at some distance from the bridge have various safety questions.

A resident said, “We have no previous experience of such an explosion. What precautions should we take on the night when the bridge is about to be demolished?”

Another citizen added that there is confusion among the citizens as the administration has not given any information about whether it poses any threat to us or not.