Six deaths later, BMC suspends two officials
CSMT BRIDGE COLLAPSE Bridge inspection body formed; notice sent to structural auditor
MUMBAI: A day after the collapse of a nodal foot overbridge (FOB) near Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT), the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) announced a slew of measures, including the immediate suspension of two engineers, a new audit of existing bridges in the city, setting up a new bridge inspection authority as well as multiple inquiries into the incident that killed six people and injured 31 others.
Show-cause notices were issued to the structural auditor and the contractor tasked with repairing Himalaya Bridge.
On Thursday, at 7.31pm, a major portion of Himalaya Bridge, which connected CSMT to the other side of Dadabhai Naoroji (DN) Road, came crashing down and commuters on the FOB fell 35 feet into rush-hour traffic. Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis on Friday directed the BMC to fix primary responsibility for the incident and take action by the end of the day. The BMC released a primary report on Friday, detailing the action being taken. A primary investigation held the civic staff tasked with supervising repairs of Himalaya Bridge responsible for failing to identify and attend to the issues that may have led to the collapse.
A detailed inquiry will investigate the collapse and submit its report in a month. Executive engineer AR Patil and assistant engineer SF Kakulte were placed under immediate suspension as they were supervising the auditing and repair of Himalaya Bridge. Mumbai’s municipal commissioner Ajoy Mehta has ordered an inquiry against five officers for poor inspection during the audit and repair work of the FOB.
The five officers are Patil, Kakulte, executive engineer AI Engineer, retired chief engineer (bridges) SO Kori and retired deputy chief engineer (bridges) RB Tare.