A preliminary report by a two-member probe team said poor quality building material was responsible for the collapse of the Kolkata flyover that killed 26 people on March 31, reported The Telegraph. The team comprising two professors from IIT Kharagpur flagged the danger of syndicates supplying shoddy material for public works projects, and raised concerns about the fate of other such flyovers in the city.
The report was submitted to a "high-power committee" set up by the Mamata Banerjee government to investigate the incident. "The technical experts have pointed out that the materials used would not pass any of the tests that need to be undertaken before using them for an important infrastructure project. This is a serious revelation," a government official, who is privy to the findings of the report, told the English daily.
For big infrastructure projects, it is mandatory that the Calcutta Metropolitan Development Authority appoint a supervision consultant, whose job is to inspect and approve the quality of materials used by the contractors. However, the report noted that the state-run CMDA did not hire any for the construction of the 2.2km-long flyover that came crashing down. In the absence of such consultants, it is the responsibility if the CMDA engineers to audit the building materials, in an ideal situation.
Though an FIR has been filed against IVRCL, the company that had the contract for the project, no action has been taken against the planning and development body under the state ministry of municipal affairs and development. Firhad Hakim is in charge of the ministry.
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