News
Panadura Bridge under threat
Residents of Moratuwa and Panadura are expressing concern that the authorities have neglected to repair the Panadura New Bridge. They point out that the river banks of the bridge have collapsed due to erosion.
The bridge is the primary road access used to reach the country’s South from the Western Province and seems nowhere close to being repaired.
The fishermen in the area complained that they have seen the concrete beams falling into the water at the Panadura New Bridge junction.
When we inquired from the Colombo District Disaster Management and Assistant Coordinator Anura Kalansuriya, he said: “The area that lies between Moratuwa Cross Junction and Panadura New Bridge has been identified as the most tsunami-prone area in Colombo District and the tsunami safe route falls across the bridge”.
“The bridge has not been maintained properly for several years, providing temporary solutions from time to time.”
He added that “residents of five Grama Niladhari Divisions belonging to Moratuwa Egoda Uyana and Koralawella are living closer to the bridge and that these areas have been identified as the highest tsunami-prone area in the Colombo District, [where people] could only reach the land areas to save their lives by using the road that falls across the Bridge.
He urged that “Moratuwa is bounded by the Bolgoda Lake on one side and the ocean on the other side. To prevent residents from a Tsunami disaster, constructing the banks and repairing the bridge has become more than just a need.”
He added that the bridge, which is located close to the ocean in the Modara harbour area, could collapse if caught in a large tide.
Road Development Authority, Kalutara Chief Engineer, R U Ranasinghe, said that he had observed that the river banks of the bridge had been eroded and construction of a stone wall would prevent further erosion.
He said that it will be implemented under the Climate Impact Mitigation Project and that a sum of Rs 18 million has been allocated for the reconstruction.
He added that within the next three months, the eroded area of the bridge will be fixed by constructing a granite wall.
We inquired about the concrete pillars that had been put aside. Engineers say that they needed to adopt a different design and, as a result, they did not commence the bridge repair using the pillars.