Rishikesh, April 10 Unidentified individuals damaged a section of the glass at one end of the Bajrang Setu, the country's first pedestrian glass bridge under construction over the Ganga river in Laxman Jhula, a popular tourist destination in Uttarakhand, officials said on Friday.
Praveen Karnawal, Executive Engineer of the Narendranagar Construction Division of the Public Works Department, said that to prevent such incidents in the future, CCTV cameras are being installed on the bridge, and adequate lighting arrangements are also being ensured.
He said that the pedestrian walkways on both sides of the bridge are made of five layers of toughened glass, each 12 millimeters thick (60 mm total), for a total thickness of 60 mm.
The top layer was damaged, while the bottom four layers remained intact, he added.
Construction on the bridge began in 2022, and this is the second such incident reported this year. On January 3, a hammer dropped from a worker's hand during construction work damaged the glass, which was later repaired.
Karnawal said that the bridge, which is being built at a cost of approximately Rs 69.20 crore, is 132.30 meters long and 8.60 meters wide. Pedestrian walkways measuring 1.80 meters wide are being constructed on both sides.