CUTTACK: The bamboo structure of a 30-foot-high welcome gate installed near Cuttack Netaji Bus Terminal (CNBT) during the recently concluded Durga Puja festival collapsed on Friday.
Fortunately, there were no reports of any casualties, but a car, an auto-rickshaw, and three bikes parked at the site were damaged in the collapse.
The welcome gate was erected by the Khannagar-Khapuria Shilpanchal puja committee. Although the decorator had removed the electrical accessories attached to the gate, the bamboo structure itself was not dismantled.
Sources reported that the gigantic structure suddenly collapsed around 2 PM, trapping the car, auto-rickshaw, and bikes underneath it. No one was in the vehicles when the structure caved in on the road stretching from Khannagar to Badambadi.
The road was blocked for about one and a half hours until members of the puja committee arrived at the scene and removed the debris with the help of a JCB machine and crane.
Prafulla Kumar Sahoo, secretary of the Khannagar-Khapuria Shilpanchal puja committee, stated, “The gate was erected around 15 days ago. It remained intact even during heavy rains. We were informed that the structure collapsed after being hit by a heavy vehicle while reversing.”
Additionally, he noted that the damaged vehicles were parked in a no-parking zone. Heavy machinery was promptly deployed to remove the bamboo structure from the road, Sahoo added.