Eight of the bodies have been identified.
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Raigad Collector Ugale and Superintendent of Police Suvez Haque monitored the rescue operations.
On casualties, the Collector said nothing can be said with certainty at this juncture as the search operation is underway. Around 42 people are feared drowned in the river.
“We have extended the area of search operation and alerted local residents and appealed them to inform us if they spot anything floating in the water”, he said, adding heavy rains were hampering the exercise. “Something has got stuck to the magnet and efforts are on to pull it out of the river”. Records show that two state transport buses with 11 passengers each are also missing since there is no contact with either their drivers or the passengers. Seven more were recovered on Friday before the swirling currents of the River Savitri brought operations to a halt.
Earlier this week, the colonial-era bridge collapsed owing to incessant rains wherein almost a dozen vehicles, including two State Transport buses travelling over the bridge, were have flown away with the water current.
Aerial view of the collapsed bridge.
“The primary reason seems to be the high pressure caused due to flooding of river Savitri due to heavy rains in catchment of Mahabaleshwar, he said”.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has ordered a judicial investigation as well as a safety audit of all old bridges.
The police said they are also using the Navy and Coast Guard helicopters to spot possible survivors.
The Coast Guard deployed a Chetak helicopter at about 8:15 AM. Sea king 42C all weather aircraft with diving team has also been pressed into service by the Indian Navy.
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Incessant rains continue to lash the coastal Konkan, northern and western Maharashtra since past five days, with at least 10 persons losing their lives in rain-related incidents in the past 24 hours. Maharashtra’s public works department minister Chandrakant Patil said in May this year that a team from the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) had inspected the old bridge and certified it “safe” for traffic. “The bodies were fished out of the river at about 50-60 kms from the mishap site”.
