SANGUEM
Questions are now being raised about the lack of a retaining wall on both sides of the approach roads of the Taripanto Bridge to prevent vehicles from falling into the river, after a car went off the bridge at Sanguem and claimed the lives of three family members, including a 2-year-old child.
The accident brought to the fore the alleged negligence of authorities in failing to construct a retaining wall on either end of the bridge.
The ill-fated car had fallen into the river after the driver allegedly lost control of the vehicle on a slope.
Locals pointed out that if authorities had been more careful and if there had been barricades of some sort at the bridge, three precious lives would have been saved.
Immediately after the accident, the police installed temporary barricades at one end of the bridge where the accident was reported, as a precautionary measure.
Locals informed that the Taripanto Bridge had become weak and they had written to authorities about two years ago, demanding immediate repairs to the bridge, but to no avail.
In a tragic incident on late Monday evening, a woman and a child were killed while a third person was reportedly missing when a car went off the bridge and plunged into the Sangameshwar river at Taripanto-Sanguem.
The deceased were identified as Rekha Naik and Devyansh Naik, while the third person was reported to be Milind Naik, all from Kuinamol in Kalay-Sanguem.
While it was unclear how the car (GA-01-R-9158) went off the bridge, it is believed that the driver lost control of the car at a slope before the bridge at about 7 pm.
