Watch: Floating bridge in Andhra Pradesh ‘collapses’ within 24 hrs of unveiling

Hyderabad: A 100-meter floating bridge inaugurated at RK Beach in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, allegedly met a swift demise within just 24 hours of its unveiling.

Reports of the bridge, which was inaugurated by Y.V. Subba Reddy, YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) leader, collapsing, with a section of it detaching and floating away, emerged after a video surfaced on X.

Fortunately, the portion of the bridge detached it was deserted, averting any potential casualties. The general public and the opposition, the Telugu Desam Party, have raised significant concerns about the safety and durability of public infrastructure projects in the region.

TDP supremo, N. Chandrababu Naidu, criticized the government for what he deemed as risking people’s lives and accused chief minister Jagan Mohan Reddy’s administration of corruption and incompetence.

In response, the YSRCP government defended the incident as a safety drill and denied reports of detachment, attributing it to a mock drill during high tides.

The collapse has ignited a storm on social media platforms, with users expressing outrage and demanding accountability from the authorities. Calls for thorough investigations into public infrastructure projects have emerged, emphasizing the need for transparency and oversight to prevent similar incidents in the future.