Bridge built in 1932 collapses at Penamaluru near Vijayawada, no one hurt

A 94-year-old bridge at Penamaluru near Vijayawada, a witness to the days when the city was a taluk under the Madras State, until the years after the bifurcation of Telangana, collapsed partially in the early hours of Thursday (July 2, 2026).

Though the bridge was closed to vehicles about 10 years ago, pedestrians have been using it. People said the collapse had disrupted the link between National Highway-65, Chodavaram and several surrounding villages near Vijayawada.

The Penamaluru police confirmed that no one was injured during the incident. However, they could not state the cause of the fall.

“It was our fortune that the bridge collapsed in the early hours, when there was no one around. No one suffered any injuries,” a fisherman, sitting on the concrete railing of the bridge, said.

A plaque near the broken part of the bridge reads that it was opened by ‘The Honorable Dewan Bahadur B. Muniswami Naidu Garu, Chief Minister, Government of Madras’ on April 15, 1932.

Once the sole connecting point between National Highway-65 (Machilipatnam-Hyderabad) and Chodavaram and other areas, the Penamaluru bridge, built across the Bandar Canal, is said to have fallen into disuse gradually after another, wider bridge was built about 15 to 20 years ago.

Until the day before yesterday, the pre-Independence bridge served as a favourite meeting point for fishermen, hawkers and the elderly. Even after the collapse, a couple of women went on hawking from the safer part of the bridge. They were selling fish, prawns and other seafood.

“In our childhood days, the old bridge used to be the main road for pedestrians as well as heavy vehicles to reach the other parts of the city,” said Srinivasa Rao, a tailor who was among the handful of people gathered near the new bridge to see the remains.

Penamaluru MLA Bode Prasad put the collapse down to age-related deterioration. But the Uppuluru and Kesarapalli bridges, also built before Independence, are still working, the MLA said, adding that proposals had been put to the government for new ones.

The people gathered there said a new bridge was needed at Penamaluru in view of the rising traffic. “One can find heavy vehicles, laden with sand, making to-and-fro trips on the new bridge, which is used by schoolchildren and pedestrians as well. It is not safe,” said Srinivasa Rao.