Substandard material, faulty design, inadequate supervision led to the collapse of Vivekananda Flyover in Kolkata killing 26 people and injuring scores in March this year, a report prepared by the experts from Indian Institute of Technology says.
The report was prepared by a committee — headed by Chief Secretary Basudeb Banerjee — comprising experts from Kharagpur IIT Anandram Gupta and Swapan Majumdar says the design of the flyover was faulty in the first place. The construction materials used were “not consistent with the requisite standard” prescribed for such structures, sources at Nabanna the State secretariat quoting the report said.
It also finds serious lapses on the part of Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority — a Government arm under the Urban Development Ministry — insofar as supervision of the work was concerned. Execution of the plan was also not done in suitable manner, the report says.
The 2.5 km long flyover planned during the erstwhile left Front Government to avoid the traffic jam of Posta-Burrabazar area one of the biggest and busiest whole-sale markets of Asia and link northern part of Kolkata with Howrah Station.
The Rs 164-crore project was started in 2008 and was scheduled to complete in 2012.
It was scheduled to be completed in 2012 but land acquisition issues delayed its completion. The implementing agency too ran into financial troubles.
Though a Hyderabad-based company IBRCl was given the contract of the project construction materials were allegedly procured through sub-contractors sponsored by local Trinamool Congress MlAs.
Soon after the fly-over collapsed hitting the national headlines a number IBRCl officials were arrested by the police on charges of culpable homicide not amounting to murder.
Meanwhile, in a related development reports prepared by the State PWD has found that about 231 bridges of the State were in poor shape and needed immediate repair and replacement.