BHOPAL: Touted as a ‘vikas model’, the Rs 7.78 crore bridge on Kuno river collpased in first heavy rain triggering flooding in the river on Saturday evening.About 500 metre long portion of the bridge washed away in Phori tehsil of Shivpuri district in less than three months after the bridge’s inauguration.Almost all rivers, including Kuno, Chambal and Seep in Shivpuri and neighbouring Sheopur district were in spate in the wake of torrential rains in the region.District administration sources in Shivpuri said more than 500 small houses collapsed in rural areas of the district. A one-year-old toddler was feared dead after he was washed away in a swollen waterbody. Over 150 people were rescued from several villages on Saturday.The bridge on Kuno river was dedicated to the people on June 29 this year by the Union minister Narendra Singh Tomar. He had then said the bridge, constructed at a cost of Rs 778 lakh connecting the state and Rajasthan, was an example of government’s committement towards development.District collector Shilpi Gupta told TOI, “Perhaps, it was constructed by the PWD. I will get a detailed report on Monday and I would recommend an inquiry.Local BJP MLA Prahalad Bharti, who had raised the issue of “inferior quality construction” in Vidhan Sabha was guarded in his reaction about the incident. Even villagers were raising the issue and had lodged the complaint with me, he said. The villagers had also raised the “inferior quality construction and they feared problem in future,” he claimed.“After heavy rainfall. Kuno was flowing four feet above the bridge, which is why it collapsed”, he said.“Though only one village of my constituency was affected due to the incident, I still want an inquiry to know reasons behind the collapse,” he said.In neighbouring Sheopur, a decade-old-record of heavy rainfall was broken after more that 120 mm rainfall pounded the area on Saturday-Sunday. Kuno washed away a long patch of road connecting the district with Shivpuri. After heavy rain, the Sheopur-Shivpuri road was riddled with craters as big as 2 feet in size. The road was constructed earlier this year.After the rains stopped on Sunday, water in all rivers in the area receded.

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