The truck that plunged into the Sudani after the temporary road collapsed. Picture by Nantu Dey

Raiganj, June 15: A goods-laden truck almost got washed away in the Sudani when a temporary road constructed over hume pipes laid across the riverbed at Domohona collapsed last night.

The road was part of NH34, the main road link between north and south Bengal. Now, the North Dinajpur district administration has thrown open a new bridge on the Sudani before it was completed or tested in an attempt to ensure that traffic on the highway is not disrupted.

“About 1am today, the water level of the Sudani swelled suddenly and cracks appeared on the road over the hume pipes at several places, cutting off the important highway,” said North Dinajpur district magistrate Sukumar Bhattacharyya.

A truck was crossing the river at the time and a section of the road caved in, plunging the front end of the vehicle into the flowing waters. However, the truck got stuck there and was not washed away from the spot.

Last year on August 22, a Bailey bridge at the same spot had collapsed, snapping NH34. The army was called in to lay a temporary bridge, while a new permanent bridge was built.

The army had set up a floating Krupman bridge on the river.

“However, after winter set in, the floating bridge had to be dismantled as the low water level in the Sudani put the rafts under the bridge at risk (the rafts could have been punctured if they came in contact with the boulders on the riverbed),” said a senior district official.

“Instead of the Krupman bridge, a road was built over large concrete hume pipes on the riverbed through which the water could flow,” the official added.

The new permanent bridge was scheduled to be completed by the end of this month. Now it has had to be opened to traffic the work was done.

“I had a talk with officials of the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) and opened the bridge,” the district magistrate said.

The project director of the NHAI Malda division, Srikumar Bhattacharya, said although the main structure of the bridge was ready, there was work to be done at the base.

“We are still depositing earth at the base of the iron pillars. We also did not get an opportunity to test the bridge by running vehicles over it. So we are taking the precaution of restricting the number of vehicles plying over it now. This restriction will be in force for a short time,” Bhattacharya added.

North Dinajpur police superintendent Swapan Banerjee Purnapatra said adequate number of policemen had been posted on both ends of the bridge to enforce the traffic restriction and protect the new bridge.

The president of the Raiganj Bus Owners’ Association, Asoke Chanda, said the administration has taken a risk by opening an untested bridge.

“They should have waited till it was declared ready,” Chanda said.