After Mumbai bridge collapse, BMC to audit 81 structures in SoBo again

The BMC on Monday also directed ward officers to pull down the remaining bridges, asking the assistant commissioners to shut down the bridges till then.

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) on Monday clarified that Professor DD Desai firm, which termed the Himalaya Foot overbridge (FOB) near Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT) safe in its audit report in August 2018, had surveyed 82 bridges, not 39 as claimed earlier. It will now issue fresh tenders to re-audit the 81 other structures.

The Himalaya bridge collapsed on March 14, killing six people. (HT File)

DD Desai was one of the three firms that audited 305 of 314 bridges in the city. The firm’s erroneous procedure came to light on Thursday, as the Himalaya FOB collapsed, killing six and injuring 31 people.

According to a senior officer from the bridges department, Desai’s firm had surveyed structures in zone one (Fort, Byculla, Marine Drive, Dongri, Chandanwadi) and zone two (Dadar, Worli, Parel, Prabhadevi). It had categorised 17 bridges as good, 43 in need of minor repairs, 19 in need of major repairs and three dilapidated. “All these bridges need to re-inspected,” said the officer.

The BMC has also directed the other two auditors, who inspected the bridges in the eastern and western suburbs, to re-audit them. “The BMC divides the work among other contractors, but in this case, the two auditors will be busy with completing the work in their jurisdiction within one month. So we will appoint a new auditor,” said the officer.

They include Marine lines South; Marine lines North; near Onkareshwar Temple, Kandivli; Vitthal Mandir, Iraniwadi, Ragadapada; SVP Road, Kandivli; Akurli road, Kandivli; Khairani road, Sakinaka; Barve Nagar, Ghatkopar (West); Hans Bhugra Marg, Santacruz Chembur Link road; SBI colony, Dahisar; Walbhat Nallah, Nirlon, Goregaon East.

The BMC on Monday also directed ward officers to pull down the remaining bridges, asking the assistant commissioners to shut down the bridges till then.

Vinayak Vispute, C ward assistant commissioner, said, “The C ward has two dilapidated bridges – Marine Lines north and Marine Lines South. As this is an emergency, we will not wait for the NOC from the traffic department. We will carry out the demolition between 9pm and 5am to avoid traffic problems.”