Portion of flyover under construction near NH-48 collapses, worker crushed to death

Senior police officers said they received a PCR call about the incident around 9 am. DCP (Southwest) Manoj C said, “The accident was at a construction site where the elevated portion of the Dwarka Expressway link road, running across NH-48, is under construction. One of the spans between two pillars fell,” said the DCP.

Police said at the time, Shakeel was passing beneath in the vehicle and was crushed. Police and Delhi Fire Services (DFS) launched an operation to rescue Shakeel and shift him to DDU Hospital, where he was declared dead on arrival.

Police said they have arrested the site manager Rohit (35) and supervisor Injmam Hussain (30) and registered a case against them under IPC section (304A) pertaining to causing death by negligence. Police said they are being questioned about the possible lapses in construction of the expressway.

On March 18, work on the flyover commenced after traffic diversions on NH-48 for a period of 90 days. During this period, 13 spans were erected. According to officials, the span that collapsed was pre-stressed on June 2.

Senior NHAI officers said, “After an under-erection span of the flyover, which is part of the Shiv Murti interchange on Dwarka Expressway, toppled around 9,30 am, a team of NHAI officers, the authority engineer and bridge experts immediately rushed to the site.”

Another official said: “As per initial reports, the span was being erected and it was reportedly resting on temporary stools and hydraulic jacks.”
The NHAI in its statement said: “As per site reports, prima facie, it appears to be a case of mechanical failure as structural elements of superstructure and substructure are in sound condition.”

The statement added that to ascertain the reason behind the incident, a three-member team of bridge experts has been constituted and two members of the team are already inspecting the site while a third member will further join the investigating team. “The committee would examine all issues in detail and submit a report in four weeks,” it said.

Last month, Union Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari had said the 29.6-km-long Dwarka Expressway is 75%-90% complete and is likely to be finished in three-four months. He also said the entire expressway will be opened before December this year. A statement from his ministry later said the entire work will be complete by April 2024.

Divided into four packages, Gadkari had said the first, from Shiv Murti near Mahipalpur to Dwarka is about 60% complete. The second package from Dwarka Urban Extension Road (UER) to Bajghera is about 82% complete while the third package from Bajghera to Basai rail overbridge (Delhi-Haryana border) is about 93% complete. The fourth package from Basai ROB to Kherki Daula is about 99% complete. The portion where the span collapsed is part of the first package.