Himalaya bridge collapse: Auditor, 3 engineers get bail

The Bombay high court (HC) on Wednesday granted bail to three civic engineers and a structural auditor arrested in connection with the collapse of Himalaya foot

The Bombay high court (HC) on Wednesday granted bail to three civic engineers and a structural auditor arrested in connection with the collapse of Himalaya foot overbridge (FoB), near Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT), which had resulted in the death of seven persons.

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Justice SK Shinde ordered that the four accused — retired chief engineer (bridges) Shitla Prasad Kori; executive engineer Anil Patil; assistant engineer Sandip Kalkute; and structural auditor Neeraj Desai — be released from prison on furnishing bail bonds of ₹50,000 each.

While Desai was arrested a few days after the incident in March, the civic engineers were arrested in the first week of April.

All of them had moved the HC after the lower courts had rejected their bail pleas.

According to the police, the seven victims lost their lives owing to negligence on part of the civic engineers and the structural auditor.

Police have alleged that Desai’s firm, DD Desai and Associates, had in 2018 bagged a contract for conducting structural audit of 39 civic bridges in south Mumbai, including Himalaya FoB which enabled suburban commuters to cross an arterial road opposite CSMT and enter the terminus.

Police claimed that the firm had in 2018 submitted its audit report, stating the bridge was in a good condition, without checking its base.

Part of the base collapsed on March 14 evening, killing seven and injuring several others. While the civic body had blamed Desai primarily for the mishap, Kalkute, Patil and Kori, who were posted in the bridges division at the relevant time, were directly or indirectly responsible for the FoB’s maintenance.