‘Himalaya FOB collapse report will show lapses’: Ajoy Mehta

Under fire following the Himalaya foot overbridge collapse at CSMT that killed six people, BMC chief Ajoy Mehta told HT a new independent inspection body will conduct regular audits.

On March 14, Himalaya Bridge at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT) collapsed, killing six people and injuring 31 others. Just eight months before the collapse, a structural audit had deemed the bridge to be in an “overall good condition” and needing “minor repairs.” With the BMC under fire following the accident, HT spoke to municipal commissioner Ajoy Mehta.

Mumbai’s muncipal commissioner Ajoy Mehta (Pratik Chorge/HT File Photo)

The bridge collapse has exposed serious lapses in the safety audit and monitoring of the bridges. Is any further action expected?

I am waiting for the detailed enquiry report, which will be submitted by the chief engineer (vigilance) in a month. The report I concluded on Friday [March 15] dealt with what was evidently visible – such as the bridge audit report and who was in charge. Punitive action was decided on the basis of immediate documents available to us. The detailed inquiry will reveal whether the procedures were followed and if there were any lapses. We are not ruling out anything.

If there is a contradiction in reports after the re-audit, will you take action against the auditors?

BMC is safeguarding the city by ordering the re-audit. If the auditor suggests additional work, it will be taken up urgently. It is unfortunate, but the advantage auditors have is that of hindsight. This can prod them to suggest additional work or precautions.

Will the bridge inspection authority be of any help?

This bridge inspection authority will work as an independent regulatory body under the BMC. If the department or engineers who built the bridge are also in charge of auditing it, we may not get accurate reports. We need to have an independent body to inspect the bridges. With this body in place, we will also ensure periodical surveys of bridges, something that was not done until now. We are saying audits will happen regularly, and the frequency of the audit will determine its intensity. For example, we can do a thorough audit annually or a primary audit once in three months.

In light of Himalaya Bridge’s collapse, what are the roles and responsibilities of BMC officers?

The structural auditors have to do their job well and BMC officers must oversee these inspections. This is why action is taken against civic officers [for lack or absence of supervision during the audit], along with the auditor and contractor, in the preliminary report. We have already suspended two officers and ordered a departmental enquiry against three more. We have blacklisted the auditor and a contractor who worked on the bridge in 2013.