Part of 75-year-old overbridge collapses in M.P.’s Indore; municipal corporation blames rats

A section of a nearly 75-year-old footbridge in Indore collapsed after a member of the civic body’s mayor’s council said the cave was responsible for a rat infestation; Civil engineering experts rubbished a claim that this was due to lack of maintenance and congestion.

A section of the Shastri Bridge, located on a busy road in Madhya Pradesh city, collapsed on Sunday, November 2, 2025, creating a 15 by 7 meter hole, officials said.

They said that following the incident, the Indore Municipal Corporation (IMC) started repairing the gap and was also carrying out additional structural repair work on the bridge.

Rajendra Rathore, Mayor, Public Works Department, IMC Council, said: PTI “There is no structural defect in Shastri Bridge. However, there is a rat menace on this bridge. Large rats dug many burrows near the footpath and hollowed out the bridge. This led to the collapse of a section of the bridge,” he said on Tuesday.

Mr. Rathore noted that to combat the rat infestation, the walkway of Shastri Bridge has been strengthened with a new cement-concrete layer and citizens have been advised not to give food or drink to the needy people residing in the structure as these items attract rodents.

He informed that the repair work on the bridge has been approved at a cost of ₹ 40 lakh.

The repair work was carried out as per the standards of the Indian Roads Congress (IRC) and based on the recommendations of civil engineering experts at the city’s Shri GS Institute of Technology and Science (SGSITS), officials said.

SGSITS is a government-supported autonomous institution.

One of these experts, speaking on condition of anonymity, said, “The sinking of a section of Shastri Bridge is a wake-up call. Traffic pressure on the bridge is constantly increasing and this incident is a result of poor maintenance. Rats alone cannot cause such a large cavity to form in the bridge and this incident is a result of structural distress.”

He suggested that as per the standards, every bridge older than 25 years should be tested regularly for its strength and carrying capacity to eliminate the possibility of accidents.