TEN MONTHS since the Gokhale bridge in Andheri collapsed claiming two lives, a Right to Information (RTI) Act query has revealed that the Railways has allotted Rs 3.37 crore for conducting the safety audit of foot overbridges (FOB) and road overbridges (ROB) in the city and already shelled out half the sum. The report of the safety audit, conducted by IIT-Bombay between August 2018 and March 2019, is awaited. On March 15, RTI activist Anil Galgali had sought information regarding the audit report of all FOBs and ROBs in the Mumbai division. In reply (accessed by The Indian Express), the bridges department of the Central Railway (CR) informed Galgali on Tuesday that such details are not provided to external agencies. However, the reply stated that between August 2018 and March 2019, the safety audit of 191 FOBs and 89 ROBs was conducted by the IIT, the report of which is awaited. In all, the audit is set to cost around Rs 3.37 crore and an advance of 50 per cent, amounting to around Rs 1.68 crore, has been paid to the institute. When contacted, Sunil Udasi, Chief Public Relations Officer of CR, said: “We have started receiving safety audit reports and necessary action, wherever required, has been initiated to ensure commuter safety.”
