Portion of non-functional British-era bridge between Unnao and Kanpur collapses

Unnao: A portion of a historic bridge on the Ganga connecting Kanpur and Unnao, built during the British period, fell into the river in the early hours of Tuesday, locals said.

The bridge, which had been closed for almost four years, collapsed around 2 am. No untoward incident was reported due to the incident, they said.

Locals claimed that the bridge near the Ganga ghat was built in 1874 by the Avadh and Rohilkhand Railway Limited Company in the Shuklaganj area of Unnao district.

Ashu Awasthi, a local, said, "A portion between two pillars of the bridge fell into the Ganga after 2 am. No one was hurt as the bridge was closed for traffic."

Another local, Panda Raju, said the bridge was closed in 2021 after cracks appeared.

"At that time, it was known through the media that deep cracks were found in rooms 2, 10, 17 and 22 from the Kanpur side, due to which the administration completely closed the bridge on April 5, 2021," he added.

As the portion of the bridge collapsed in the Ganga, a number of locals made their way near the spot and made videos of the structure. The clips and photographs of the structure soon found their way to social media.

While there was no immediate statement from any government body over the matter, Krishna Kumar, who lives along the riverbank, said some officers came to the site in the morning in a Lucknow-registered vehicle.

"They went near the broken part and left after some time," Kumar claimed.