Flyover collapse in Varanasi a natural disaster: top official
UPBC MANAGING DIRECTOR BLAMES THE ADMINISTRATION FOR NOT ACTING ON REQUESTS TO DIVERT TRAFFIC FROM THE AREA
LUCKNOW: The state-owned Uttar Pradesh Bridge Corporation (UPBC) on Wednesday suspended work on all projects it is working on, a day after 20 people died when part of an under-construction flyover it is building in Varanasi, the parliamentary constituency of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, collapsed, crushing vehicles and pedestrians underneath.
As the police registered a first information report for the collapse against UPBC officials, managing director Rajan Mittal described the collapse as a natural disaster, linking it to a recent thunderstorm, and blamed the district administration for not acting on requests to divert traffic from the area.
In an interview, Mittal said work on all ongoing UPBC projects would restart only after safety norms at the construction sites are examined to avert a repeat of the Varanasi incident.
The UPBC is constructing 115 bridges and flyovers worth ₹3,464 crore and 68 railway over bridges (ROBS) worth ₹2,056 crore across the state in the financial year 2018-19.
Mittal said the UPBC had constituted teams of engineers and experts that will visit the sites to review the construction of the bridges, flyovers and ROBS.
“The teams will see if the security norms set by the state government have been implemented at the construction sites. The quality of the materials used in the construction of the bridges and flyovers will be also checked and there will be no construction till the teams complete the review works and submit reports within three days. Senior engineers of the corporation will analyse all the reports and construction work will commence only after they give the green signal,” Mittal said.
A bus and about half-a-dozen other vehicles were crushed by the huge concrete slab of the flyover that toppled over them on Tuesday near Cantonment railway station in Varanasi. The portion of the flyover that collapsed had been constructed in February.
“Traffic should not have been allowed underneath the bridge...we had written several letters to the authorities to regulate and impose restrictions around the site. But our requests went unheeded,” Mittal said.
Mittal ruled out poor quality of construction material as a probable cause of the collapse, suggesting that the thunderstorm that struck the city a couple of days ago may have weakened the structure. “Preliminary findings point towards a loose cross-beam connection or a bearing failure. The beam may have got dislodged from its socket because of the thunderstorm and fell. So it may be a natural disaster,” he said.
Mittal said all the employees of the corporation had decided to donate a day’s salary to the chief minister’s relief fund.
Asked whether deadline pressure on personnel to complete the project could have been a factor, Mittal said work pressure in such projects is always a given.
“...We were taking all the precautions and following the rule book... The project completion deadline was December 2018 and we had completed 56% work on the bridge,” he said.