Bhubaneswar:Prashant Padhi, director of Panda Infra Projects, was arrested Thursday in connection with collapse of a portion of the under-construction Bomikhal overbridge in which a worker died and another was injured critically.
The city police arrested Padhi a week after the arrest of Pratap Kishore Panda, MD of Panda Infra Projects. Meanwhile a show cause notice has been issued to officials who oversaw the construction works. .
Works minister Prafulla Kumar Mallick said Thursday that he has received an official report on the bridge collapse. It held the contractor firm responsible for the mishap. It has been pointed out that those engaged in the bridge works were not skilled. The firm was also not being careful about security at the work site.
The contractor firm has been taken off the job. The government will do the rest of the works on its own and this would be completed in two months. After completion, a third party will inspect the bridge, the minister said.
He said there also have been allegations of irregularities in the works of Jatni and Sambalpur flyovers undertaken by the Panda Infra Projects. The firm will be removed from these projects too, citing its low-quality work. A fresh tender will be floated for completion of the rest of the works.
It was May 3 that iron mesh weighing a half ton collapsed from a portion of the bridge at Bomikhal and killed labourer Ajay Bhumij. Another labourer was injured critically.
The incident occurred around9:30pm. Fire Services personnel rushed to the spot and managed to save the life of one worker, Anand Kumar Nayak 23.