One critical in under-construction flyover mishap in Sambalpur

SAMBALPUR: A 45-year-old man sustained critical injuries after an iron rod fell from an under-construction flyover, connecting Church Chowk with Nelson Mandela Chowk, on Tuesday. 

Atul Krushna Dash of Bhima Bhoi Nagar was crossing the flyover on his motorcycle when the iron rod fell on him near Women’s police station. He sustained severe head injuries. Dash was rushed to the District Headquarters Hospital (DHH) and later shifted to VSS Institute of Medical Sciences and Research (VIMSAR).

Panda Infraproject, which was executing the flyover at Bomikhal in Bhubaneswar, is carrying out construction work of the flyover here. The Bomikhal flyover collapsed on September 10 in 2017, claiming one life and injuring 10 others.

Following the incident, Collector Samarth Verma directed the construction firm to stop the work. “Since there is heavy flow of traffic on the Church Chowk-Nelson Mandela Chowk route, we have decided not to allow the firm to carry out construction work during day time till traffic is diverted through other route,” he said.  

Executive Engineer of Public Works Department (Division I), Gouranga Charan Sahu said they had instructed the construction firm to stop work and make adequate safety arrangement few days back. Although the firm stopped shuttering and concrete work, it continued bracketing work. The rod fell while the bracketing work was underway, he said.

Work on 1,880-metre long flyover began in March 2016.  Initially, it was proposed to construct a 1,540-metre long flyover from Church Colony to Head Post Office through Laxmi Talkies Chowk here.   However, the design was changed and the length increased to 1,880 metres. Prior to the change in design, the Public Works Department had set a target to complete the flyover within 15 months. However, the PWD reportedly did not set a new completion deadline after change in design.