Himalaya FoB collapse: BMC staff threaten mass leave, resignations

With 45% of the posts vacant, the move will lead to a further delay in bridge works.

Even as major and minor repairs of the city’s dilapidated bridges are pending, 42 engineers from the bridges department of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) announced their plan to go on mass leave for the next 15 days starting Thursday, to protest the arrest of former chief of the department, SO Kori, in the Himalaya bridge collapse case.

Even as major and minor repairs of the city’s dilapidated bridges are pending, 42 engineers from the bridges department of the BMC announced their plan to go on mass leave for the next 15 days starting Thursday. (HT PHOTO)

With 45% of the posts vacant, the move will lead to a further delay in bridge works. Moreover, around 4,500 civic engineers associated with two unions of various other departments have threatened to tender a mass resignation to protest over the same reason. A slab of the Himalaya bridge outside Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT) collapsed on March 14, killing seven people. The incident brought the auditor and civic officials who approved the survey conducted by him under the scanner.

Kori was in-charge of the bridges department when the audits of more than 200 bridges of the city were carried out, until he retired in July last year. The 42 officials have submitted an intimation of their protest, with their signatures, to the civic administration.

Civic chief Ajoy Mehta chose not to comment. A senior civic official said, “Officials ranging from deputy level posts to junior engineers have announced their decision to go on mass leave. This means, a lot of work will have to be done with minimum staff on board.”

Sainath Rajyadaksha of the Municipal Engineers’ Union, said, “Without establishing a technical fault or factual evidence, how can the officer be arrested? Kori is an upright officer and was straightforward. How can engineers continue to work when there is no faith in us?” James John, citizen activist from Andheri, said, “It is high time BMC engineers understood the value and responsibility of their work. A shoddy audit and lack of verification were lapses in the system.”