Tags:
Journalism of Courage
A portion of a newly constructed flyover at Ultadanga near Kolkata collapsed into the Kestopur canal along with a truck early Sunday morning injuring three people. The flyover,which connects VIP Road and the airport with the EM Bypass,was inaugurated two years ago.
The concrete portion of the flyover collapsed around 4.30 am. According to preliminary reports,an over-loaded truck carrying marble slabs from Rajasthan reached the curve of the flyover,but the steep curve guarder of the left side of the flyover collapsed. The impact made the truck veer off the road and fall into the canal. The driver and the two cleaners were injured and admitted to Bidhanagar and RG Kar Hospital,respectively. The condition of one of the cleaners is said to be critical.
Local residents rushed to the spot only to find that around 40 metres of the flyover used by the vehicles from the VIP Road to reach EM Bypass had collapsed. They found the mangled remains of the truck and three persons trapped inside it.
Police and the Fire services were informed along with a disaster management team. Police immediately closed both the flanks of the flyover as a precautionary measure. Bidhannagar city police as well as Kolkata Police were deployed at the spot for managing traffic.
After the incident,a blame game began between the CPM and the ruling Trinamool Congress with Urban Development Minister Firhad Hakim blaming the previous Left Front government for hurriedly inaugurating the flyover in the run-up to the 2011 Assembly elections. Hakim,who visited the site,ordered an inquiry. He said action will be taken against engineers found responsible for the collapse. He said a year-and-a-half ago,the government received information that there was a crack on the Ultadanga flyover. A team of Jadavpur University engineers inspected the flyover and recommended that the crack needs to be repaired,which was done immediately.
