THATTA: On a special directive of Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah, Thar Coal Authority (TCA) chairman Subhan Memon, coordinator Haji Muzaffar Shujra and other officials accompanied by an inspection team visit the crumbling Thatta-Sujawal bridge on the Indus on Friday.

TCA director-general (tech­­ni­­cal) Shamsuddin Sehto and chief engineer Hassan Ali Memon, the highways department chief engineer and other senior officials carried out a three-hour inspection of the strategically important bridge, nam­ed ‘Doolah Darya Khan Bridge’ which experts believe is on the verge of collapse.

After the inspection, Mr Memon and Mr Shujra told Dawn that they recommended immediate imposition of a ban on the movement of heavy vehicle through the bridge.

They said that essential repair work should be carried out on war-footing and started on Wednesday/Thursday.

Energy department secretaryAgha Wasif Abbas under the Sindh Public Procure­ment rules invited reputed firms including the National Logis­tic Cell, Frontier Works Orga­n­isa­tion and Sachal Engin­ee­­ring to offer their services in the urgent repair work, to be completed within the next three/four months.

The bridge has got some of its vital slabs and columns damaged making it sagging and experts, who earlier surveyed and inspected the structure, warned that it may collapse any time if heavy vehicles continued to use it.

Published in Dawn, June 14th, 2014