Panda Infra removed from Jatni over-bridge project

At last, rattled by the frequent complaints against the tainted Panda Infra Projects, the Works Department on Wednesday barred the firm from construction of the Jatni flyover project.

Soon after the Bhubaneswar Bomikhal flyover tragedy, the Vigilance Directorate started a probe into the accusations of inferior quality work in the execution of the ongoing Jatni over-bridge project.

Initially, the Jatni Traders’ Association had raised a hue and cry over the poor quality work carried out by the Panda Infra in construction of the flyover.  As a proof, the association had also submitted CCTV footages to the Vigilance police that had visuals of the construction work being carried out by the firm at night.

Prior to that, a 10-member team of the National Institute of Technology (NIT), Rourkela led by Mahavir Panda, Head of the Department (HOD) of Civil Engineering of the institute, had conducted a spot visit and examined the load capacity of the under-construction bridge along with checking the quality of the slabs.

Works Secretary Nalini Kanta Pradhan said, “There were allegations of substandard work against the firm. The Jatni flyover was supposed to be completed by 2015, but only 50 per cent of the work has been completed so far. Re-tendering of the project will be done within a month.” Notably, the Panda Infra Projects was also debarred from carrying out further construction of the Bomikhal flyover in May 2018 following two mishaps which killed one person and injured more than 15.

However, the firm is still carrying out construction of the flyover project in Sambalpur, where also allegations of inferior quality work are being alleged by locals.