CST foot overbridge collapse: Pulled up engineers blame contractor

While the blame game continues over the CSMT foot overbridge collapse some of the BMC engineers held responsible for the poor supervision of the structural audit have now raised allegations against Veetrag Enterprises the contractor who carried out the cosmetic renovation work in 2016 for failing to take stock of the condition of the structure at the timeWhile BMCs vigilance department inquired into the role of the repair work done by RPS Infrastructure in 2013 it has clearly left out any mention of the work done by Veetrag in 2016 from the preliminary enquiry reportThe reportThe report issued by civic chief Ajoy Mehta had held Professor DD Desais Associated Engineering Consultants responsible for carrying out the structural audit in an irresponsible and negligent manner and RPS Infrastructure for carrying out repairs that werent up to the mark The enquiry also placed the blame on three junior engineers a retired deputy chief engineer and a retired chief engineer While two engineers have been suspended the remaining three civic officials will face a fullfledged departmental enquiryOne of the accused BMC engineers pointed out that it was unfair to leave Veetrag out of the ambit of the enquiry since the company had carried out work on the bridge long after the repair work was done in 2013 File PicWeakening bridgeOne of the accused BMC engineers pointed out that it was unfair to leave Veetrag out of the ambit of the enquiry since the company had carried out work on the bridge long after the repair work was done in 2013 The accused engineers said it was unlikely that the repairs carried out in 2013 were faulty since the bridge was standing for six years after thatThe engineers also claimed that while carrying out the renovation work in 2016 for keeping the bridge in sync with the heritage look of the area Veetrag had added more filling between the slab and the fresh tiles thus putting more weight on the structure which was already weak due to corrosionThe contractor altered the level of the tiles and he should have checked the structural stability of the bridge before doing so The earlier guarantee is over if another contractor carries out work on the bridge after said an engineer Interestingly while the repair work of plastering painting and minor structural repairs was done at a cost of Rs 8 lakh the renovation work cost BMC around Rs 16 lakh According to Veertags purchase order new tiles were laid and the colour of the bridge was changed in the work amounting to about Rs 16 lakh The work done by RPS included 143 tonnes of structural steel work whereas according to sources 100 tonnes of steel has been used in the bridge They were also tasked with painting and adding hand railing However the structural changes or repairs to the flooring or base of the structure have not been mentionedCivic chiefs approvalAnother official held responsible in the report further alleged that the idea to renovate the FOB was taken up by the A ward office headed by assistant municipal commissioner Kiran Dighavkar He had approached the bridges department in 2016 citing Mehtas approval for the project We were simply informed that the project was being carried out We werent asked to check the structural stability of the bridge before carrying out the renovation work and since Dighavkar already had the commissioners approval we couldnt have raised any objections either said the officialRubbishing all the allegations made by the accused engineers a civic official said As the bridge was shabby with broken tiles the flooring was replaced Tiles of the exact same weight were laid and there was no change to that How is it possible that the bridge could not take the load after three years despite being fine for all those years These are just allegations to save themselves and divert from the main issue of them neglecting their duty midday tried to contact Dighavkar and Veetrag Enterprises but both remained unavailable for commentMehta saysMehta said the preliminary report had only focused on the glaring errors made in the case adding others will be held accountable as well indicating that the role of Veetrag Enterprises will also be examined The enquiry is being done in two parts The first part was the preliminary report which looked at the absolutely apparent faults found on the records the detailed enquiry will take time No one will be given a clean chit until the final enquiry is completed he saidEngineers to demand papersMeanwhile some of the engineers are planning to ask for relevant papers to ascertain the facts of the case including the defect liability period mentioned in the contract with RPS InfrastructureBMC is yet to issue notices to the engineers allegations levelled against them will be resolved in the detailed departmental enquiry which would be carried out by Vivek More the chief engineer of the vigilance departmentBridge staircase at Dadar stn to be repairedA railway inspection on Saturday found that the BMC bridge at Dadar station Phool Market bridge was in dire need of repairs and it has been decided that the ramp at platform 1 and staircase at platform 23 would be closed temporarily for the safety of passengers While the staircase will be closed for 13 days for repairs and strengthening between March 17 and 29 the platform 1 ramp will be closed for 90 days to be rebuilt between March 17 and June 16 WR officials said the bridge will however remain open to those who want to go from east to west The Central Railway meanwhile has said that it has taken up eight bridges for demolition and dismantling at Diva Bhandup Govandi Tilaknagar Vikhroli Wadala Vidyavihar and Kurla Kasaiwada Alternative bridges have been built at each of the stationsAlso ReadMumbai Civic chief Ajoy Mehta orders reauditing of 38 bridgesCatch up on all the latest Mumbai news crime news current affairs and also a complete guide on Mumbai from food to things to do and events across the city here Also download the new midday Android 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