The movement of troops, government officials and citizens have been hit after a Bailey bridge over Dri River in Arunachal Pradesh‘s Dibang Valley district collapsed on Tuesday, cutting the last town near the sensitive Indo-Sino border, Anini, from the rest of the country.
The Bailey bridge, a “crucial link” on National Highway 313 between Roing and Anini, is merely 10 km short of Anini, and is of strategic importance for movement of army equipment and troops to forward areas along the Indo-Sino border, given the tension between the two neighbouring countries following the Galwan clashes in which 20 Indian soldiers were killed, prompting the district administration to activate an alternative route.
Talking to EastMojo, Dibang Valley deputy commissioner Minga Sherpa said, “A Bailey bridge near Amboli, around 10 km from Anini, collapsed this afternoon bringing movement of vehicles to a complete halt at once.”
“The district administration has activated another route through Etabe which will take around 1.5 hours to reach Anini,” added Sherpa.
Sherpa said, a new bridge, which is under construction by NHIDCL, is slated to be opened in May.
Sources said that the alternative route is landslide prone and takes a much longer time to reach Anini, which could be reached in 15 minutes otherwise.
Meanwhile, in the bridge collapse, the driver of a dumper sustained injuries but is said to be out of danger, a source said. The process of removing the debris of the steel bridge is on so that it doesn’t obstruct the river from its natural flow.