A day after a portion of the footbridge outside Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus crashed down, a preliminary inquiry has blamed the structural consultants of negligence and recommended police action against them, here on Friday, according to officials.

"There is a prima facie reason to believe that the structural audit has been conducted in an irresponsible and negligent manner. This tragedy could have been avoided if the structural audit had been done diligently," said the probe report, naming Prof. D. D. Desai's Associated Engineering Consultants & Analysts Pvt. Ltd.

The report also said it was apparent that the structural audit was not carried out correctly and major lapses have been observed. It failed to point out an impending failure and despite the public money spent for commissioning the audit, "the true condition of the bridge was not brought out."

The report has also said that D. D. Desai's AECAPL should be immediately struck off the BMC's panel and the Maharashtra government must be informed of the same.

--IANS

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