Floating bridge separated for trials

Visakhapatnam: The floating bridge at RK Beach in Visakhapatnam received a negative campaign even before completing 24 hours of its formal inaugural.

The new tourist attraction was launched by Rajya Sabha member YV Subba Reddy, IT Minister Gudivada Amarnath and District Collector A Mallikarjuna, among others on Sunday.

According to officials concerned, the facility is likely to be made available to the public in a couple of days.

However, on Monday, part of the bridge was seen floating away in the distance. Meanwhile, social media was abuzz with the news that the bridge had collapsed within a day and fortunately, there were no tourists present on the bridge.

Responding to the negative campaign that was propagating in some of the news channels, officials from the Visakhapatnam Metropolitan Region Development Authority (VMRDA) clarified that the misinformation was being spread on the media platforms about the floating bridge. “Visitors are not allowed to walk along the floating bridge due to severe tidal waves following the changes in weather. Due to the intensity of the sea current, the floating bridge managers separated the ‘T’ point (view point) from the bridge and launched the process of checking its strength on Monday. This was misunderstood as a broken bridge,” the officials mentioned in a statement.

Some of the people shot videos and started circulating them on social media platforms. The officials and organisers visited the spot immediately and gave the reason for the part of the bridge floating aside. “Since they were in maintenance and trials mode, tourists were not allowed into the bridge,” they stated.

The VMRDA officials condemned the propaganda and they noticed that showing the gap between the bridge and view point (T junction) which was separated for trials was shot and uploaded on media platforms.

The VMRD officials informed that the ‘T’ junction from the floating bridge could only be separated as part of routine mock drills. It is to be informed that this is part of the normal technical procedure taken up during high tidal waves and such mock drills will be carried out in future whenever the need arises.