About 36 people are feared killed as a major tragedy rocked the holy city of Varanasi on Tuesday evening when a huge portion of an under-construction Chowkaghat-laharatara flyover collapsed crushing down on several vehicles, including a roadways bus.
Sixteen bodies have been recovered from the Varanasi flyover collapse site so far, an NDRF spokesperson said on Tuesday evening. “It is feared that several people are still buried under the rubble,” an official said. UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has set up a three-member committee to probe the flyover collapse, an official said. Yogi has asked Deputy Chief Minister Keshaw Prasad Maurya and local Minister Dr Neelkanth Tiwari to personally supervise the rescue work.
Earlier, utter chaos prevailed in the area and heavy police force, including the personnel of PAC, NDRF and CRPF were deployed there.
When the reports came in, the area was cordoned off and rescue teams were working hard to remove the fallen concrete part to bring out those trapped there. Additional DG (Zone) PV Rama Sastry said the first priority of police is to provide medical help to the injured.
Expressing shock over the tragic incident, Banaras Hindu University (BHU) administration has alerted its doctors at Sir Sundarlal Hospital (SSH) and Trauma Centre to be available for medical assistance.
It may be mentioned that the flyover from Chowkaghat area was constructed during the regime of Mayawati, despite protests by locals who felt at that time that a flyover would not give any relief to traffic jams there on the Old GT Road. The flyover caused big problem not only at the entry of Varanasi Railway Junction but also at Cantonment Depot of Roadways.
To overcome the traffic jam problem, the Akhilesh Yadav Government ordered yet another flyover, parallel to the old one, but extended to lahartara. Since the BJP Government came to power, pressure was being mounted on the Bridge Corporation for the early completion of the work. Just a day ago, Divisional Commissioner Deepak Agrawal had instructed engineers to ensure the flyover is completed by October this year.