The historic “Dandi Bridge,” through which Mahatma Gandhi had led his volunteers for the salt satyagraha to Dandi on the sea coast in Bulsar district in south Gujarat, was partly damaged in a fire on Tuesday.
The wooden bridge across a small canal leading to the Sabarmati river, that a century ago connected the Sabarmati Gandhi Ashram with Ahmedabad city, lay unused for long and uncared for by the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation.
It was named Dandi Bridge after the Mahatma launched the salt march to Dandi from the Sabarmati Ashram.
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While the corporation authorities could not say how some of the wooden planks caught fire, some local people said the damage was caused by a fire ignited to destroy waste materials under the bridge.
Criticising the city civic body for paying scant attention to the historic monument, some ashramites said the corporation sweepers had the habit of dumping waste and burning them from time to time in the now-dry canal just under the Dandi bridge.