Pune: A district-level probe committee has faulted the Pune zilla parishad (ZP) and the public works department (PWD) for not taking up the responsibility of maintaining the Kund Mala bridge which collapsed on June 15 killing four people, district collector Jitendra Dudi said on Monday.He added that based on an audit report 63 structurally unsafe bridges across Pune district will be demolished after the monsoon. Orders for their dismantling have been sent out. The PWD constructed the Kund Mala bridge which connects a ZP road to a defence establishment road. The ZP said the bridge was not officially handed over.“A govt resolution mandates that the ZP should maintain such bridges, but lack of a formal transfer led to confusion. In effect, it became nobody’s property. The bridge was not in use and was manned by the police and the administration. The rush of tourists that day caused the tragedy,” he added.The concrete and iron bridge built in 1992 over Indrayani River at Kund Mala near Talegaon is a popular monsoon destination.Dudi told TOI that orders to dismantle the 63 bridges have been sent. He had announced a probe by a district panel under an additional collector to fix responsibility and to draw up the SOPs to check the recurrence of such incidents.The district panel’s report will now go to a three-member state-level expert committee announced recently by PWD minister Shivendrasinh Raje Bhosale in the assembly which will take a call on fixing the responsibility, the collector added.Bhosale told the assembly that strict action would follow. He said that the bridge was declared unsafe and barricaded, but tourists ignored the warnings.In 2017, the district planning committee had approved ₹3 crore for a structural audit and repairs. The estimate was sent to PWD, but neither did it nor ZP followed it through.“Despite clear directives, no work was done. The bridge was neglected by both departments,” a senior administration official said.The district panel’s report noted that although the bridge was closed and warning signs installed, a large crowd of tourists gathered on it on June 15. “There was sufficient police and administrative presence, but the rush could not be controlled,” Dudi said.The report recommended regulating crowds through a ticketing system, like Kaas Plateau, at 20 tourist locations across Pune district. A joint forest committee will oversee this initiative.Places like Tamhini Ghat, Kamshet, Nane Ghat, Sinhagad, Rajgad and Bhaje Caves will be covered.Dudi said around ₹50 crore from the DPC will be allocated for digital infrastructure to manage tourist flow.
