Abhayachandra Jain blames sand mafia for damage to Maravoor bridge

Abhayachandra Jain blames sand mafia for damage to Maravoor bridge

Mangalore Today News Network

Mangaluru, Jun 15, 2021: The sand mafia and the neglect of the district administration  was responsible for the damage to the Maravoor bridge  which is a vital link to the Mangaluru International Airport, alleged senior Congress leader and former minister Abhayachandra Jain.

Speaking to reporters at the Congress Office here on June 15, Tuesday,  he alleged that sand mining was going on unabatedly on the pretext of  dredging around the  bridge using JCB. The silence of the district administration and the elected representatives led to this incident, he  alleged.

``The authorities should have taken note of the condition of the old bridge before  embarking on the construction of an alternative  bridge. Along with Maravoor bridge, even the vented dam which was constructed due to the initiative of former MLA Vijay Kumar Shetty was facing danger. There is also possibility of  the Konkan Railway bridge nearby  too suffering damage,’’ he feared.

The present situation has arisen due to the sand mafia which operated with the  patronage of politicians, he  said and made it clear that he did not permit this during his tenure as MLA.

District Congress President Harish Kumar  said  though traditional sand extraction was taking place even in the past, however at present the rule that  there can be no sand extraction within a radius of 500 meters from a bridge is violated.

Congress leaders Mithun Rai, Vinayraj, Shalet Pinto and others were present.