Bhubaneswar, May 5: The recent collapse of a portion of under-construction Bomikhal flyover is a wake-up call to the government as this was not the first incident where a public infrastructure project either collapsed or caved in. A series of such incidents have taken place in the state in the past few years.
The Bomikhal flyover, being constructed by a private contractor-Panda Infra Project Pvt Ltd – collapsed twice before its completion. The first incident happened in September last year, in which one person was killed and five were seriously injured.
Even after that sad episode, the government had not taken the contractor off the work. Though the contractor was blacklisted and two engineers were arrested, nothing much had changed. The same contractor again failed to execute the work properly resulting in the death of another innocent person.
On September 4 last year, an under-construction bridge over Badanala in Antarpada panchayat under Buguda block of Ganjam district collapsed. However, no casualties were reported but no strong action was taken against the contractor. In a similar incident on September 24 last year, at least five persons were injured when an under-construction bridge over Jeera River near Jamdol under Bheden block of Bargarh district collapsed. The bridge, being constructed under Biju Setu Yojana, collapsed during installation of a slab. In this case, action was taken against the contractor and the field level functionaries.
However, the happening of such things have not stopped here.
A few days ago, a small bridge constructed just three years ago over Ambakhala nullah near Buguda in Ganjam district collapsed during light rainfall. As no causality was reported and the incident was not highlighted in public, the government sat on it. And, no action has been taken against the contractor.
The important Gurupriya Bridge was also reported to have faced two such incidents. While three girders between columns 10 and 11 caved in due to heavy rains, two piles have tilted recently. Among similar incidents were two big slabs of Jaydev Vihar flyover collapsed twice in 2012.
Not only bridges, many roads have been washed away and caved in even during light showers. Collapse of school, hospital and Anganwadi buildings have also been reported in recent past.
On February 13 this year, a portion of a road near Power House Square in the capital city suddenly caved in. Students in a college bus had a providential escape. When they saw the road sinking, the driver and all students got down from the bus immediately.
Prior to Nabakalebara, the government had taken up many infrastructure projects in a hurry. As a result, a huge crack appeared on Bada Danda (Grand Road) in Puri, putting a big question mark on the quality of work being undertaken for Nabakalebara. Samajajpur railway over-bridge (ROB) on Puri-Bhubaneswar NH 316 had developed cracks at that time due to lack of proper planning.
While discussing the reasons behind such incidents and possible suggestions to improve the quality of infra, former chief engineer Ramesh Chandra Tripathy said, “The technical reason behind each case is different. But, as per my observations, these cases were reported due to carelessness of the concerned contractor and field level supervising staff.”
The labourers and other skilled workers engaged in executing work must be sensitized about the risk of their job and how to carry it out to avoid any untoward incident, Tripathy said.
Asked about whether there is any need to strengthen the existing norms, the ex-engineer said, “The existing rules and regulations are enough to take action against the violators. But, important is, the concerned engineering staff of the government must have to ensure quality and proper execution of projects.”
A senior official of the Works Department said that detailed guidelines and instructions have been issued to all executive engineers and concerned staff to ensure quality and safety while executing big infrastructure projects. The Works Department has also formed a task force to conduct surprise inspections of important projects to check quality of work, the official said.
As far as removal of Panda contractor from the Bomikhal flyover work is concerned, he said, “The government can remove the contractor. It is a little lengthy process. But, we are exploring all possible options because safety of public is our priority.”
Panda should pay up
The death of a construction worker after the collapse of a portion of the under-construction Bomikhal flyover has raised issues of serious public import. Nanda Nandan Das, former secretary of the Works department, along with Kamini Mohan Samantaray and Raghu Nath Pati visited the spot in front of Santoshima temple in Bomikhal Saturday morning. The observations recorded by the team are of great significance in the context of recurring tragedies in the state due to such unforeseen incidents.
“Foundation work is under way under the surface and the tying of grills is in progress. Two rods two inches in diameter were erected vertically towards the side of the road along Kesari Talkies to ensure smooth traffic flow. There were no proper tie ups and stay arrangements to support these rods to stand vertically. While the reinforcement work was going on, the rods fell on the men at work underneath, resulting in the death of one worker and seriously injuring another. The reason was crass negligence in providing proper safety arrangements,” said Nanda Nandan Das, also Chairman, People’s Welfare Suggestion Forum.
“It is the responsibility of the rod binders and the site engineers who should have taken sufficient precautionary measures against the falling of the rods,” said Das, adding: “Since work was taken up under the custody of the contractor, the agency is responsible and should pay the penalty and compensation for the death and treatment of the injured. The issue is not sub-standard work. So project work should not be stopped.”
The project has been delayed for about 8 years. This is already abnormal delay and people have suffered a lot. The cost of construction has already doubled. So the decision to complete the work within June, 2018, should be adhered to.
“The defaulters – rod binders and the engineering personnel concerned – should be made responsible. The contractor should pay the penalty and compensation for the dead and the injured,” said Das.
Work on the project should resume without further delay and should be completed before monsoon, he added.
