2 min readPuneJul 8, 2026 09:50 PM IST
The protective grill of a bridge connecting Hotale village and Girivan to the Kolwan-Paud road in Mulshi taluka has collapsed due to heavy rain in the past two days, making the route dangerous for vehicles. The grill had already been heavily damaged around 10 days ago due to a vehicle crashing into it. Further, the bridge itself has been declared unsafe for four-wheelers and heavy vehicles by the gram panchayat since the past few years and a warning board has been installed at the bridge.
Dhanashree Palkar, gram panchayat sarpanch, said, “The grill was damaged in an accident 10-12 days ago and completely got swept away due to the rain in the last two days. The bridge itself is dangerous for heavy vehicles and we have requested the government for a completely new bridge.” She added that construction work in Girivan, a private hill station with multiple properties and bungalows, leads to heavy vehicles plying on the bridge.
Devika Nadig, secretary of Girivan Welfare Society, said, “We have been trying with the gram panchayat and the zilla parishad to repair the bridge. The river, when in spate, is really ferocious. The children of all the workers who work here go to the government school in the village beyond the stream by bus. The bridge is dangerous for them to travel also.”
Gram Sevak Poonam Suryavanshi told The Indian Express that she had urged the authorities to repair the bridge. “The bridge is under the Public Works Department and I have written a letter to them. The grill will be repaired in the next two days.”
Last year, a bridge in Kundamala, declared unfit for vehicular movement, collapsed and led to the deaths of several tourists.
