Surat bridge, flyover under CAG scanner

The auditor observed that the flyover work remained incomplete entailing an unfruitful expenditure of Rs 22.32 crore incurred for the work

Surat flyover, Surat bridge, Surat flyover collapse, CAG, Surat Municipal corporation, SMC, Gujarat government, Gujarat news

SMC blacklisted the agency for five years for all works of SMC after forfeiting the security deposit of Rs 4.33 crore.

Taking serious note of a flyover that collapsed in Surat city killing 10 workers and injuring six others, the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) in a recent report referred to an inquiry report and stated hat “wrong calculations” by the consultancy firm caused the incident in 2014.

“A high-level committee appointed by the state government for inquiry of the incident reported that the incident occurred due to wrong calculation of reaction forces by the consultant SN Bhobe and Associate Pvt Ltd. The uplift forces were not quantified in the design report i.e. reaction forces were calculated for a straight span instead of a curved span,” stated a CAG report tabled in Assembly Tuesday.

In April 2013, Surat Municipal Corporation (SMC) had awarded the work of construction of flyover on Surat-Dumas Road near Athwalines Court Building to an agency — M/s Rachana Construction Company — at a cost of Rs 30.92 crore with condition to complete the work by October 2014. CAG observed that the curved span between piers CP-14 and CP-15 of the flyover collapsed on June 10, 2014 during execution resulting in death of 10 workers and injury to six workers.

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The auditor also observed that the work remained incomplete entailing an unfruitful expenditure of Rs 22.32 crore incurred for the work. In April 2015, SMC stated that the consultant has been blacklisted and the remaining work would be completed at the earliest, the report added.

CAG also took note of another incomplete project where SMC had awarded the work of constructing a “cable stayed structure bridge” over Tapi river to Mumbai-based M/s Gammon India in October 2010. The work was targeted to be completed by April 2013 at a cost of Rs 143.65 crore. However, “the agency after executing work of Rs 76.23 crore (53%) abandoned the work in November 2014. The work remained incomplete till August 2015.”

SMC blacklisted the agency for five years for all works of SMC after forfeiting the security deposit of Rs 4.33 crore. The tendering process of awarding the remaining work to a new agency is under process, it added.

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