Mumbai bridge collapse: Structural audit company given 39 jobs, operates from small Andheri flat
Vijay V Singh | TNN | Updated: Mar 16, 2019, 08:33 IST
Prof D D Desai's Associated Engineering Consultants and Analysts said 12, including the collapsed bridge, a... Read More
MUMBAI: The structural auditor, now in the dock for certifying the Himalaya foot overbridge as fit for use less than seven months before it collapsed on Thursday, had checked 38 other busy bridges in the island city, like Princess Street flyover, Byculla bridge and Priyadarshini bridge on Nepeansea Road. The contract is worth Rs 63.18 lakh.
Prof D D Desai's Associated Engineering Consultants & Analysts said 12, including the collapsed bridge, are in good condition; nine, including Princess Street ROB, need major repair, 15 need minor repair, and asked for demolition of three (see box, P ).
Incorporated in 2003 with three directors-owner Neeraj Desai, Hemlata Desai and Neeraj's father Dilipkumar Dahyabhai Desai-the firm operates out of a small modest flat in a middle-class society in Andheri (W) where the Desai family lives.
On Friday , TOI visited the address-on the top floor of a three-storey building that doesn't have a lift. A woman answered the bell, but refused to discuss the bridge audit. In the hall, facing the door, sat an old man on a chair with a walker next to him. Another man, in his fifties, was sitting next to him.
When asked about Neeraj Desai, the woman said 'Mr Desai' was at the BMC headquarters since morning and one should approach him for details. She refused to share the company's address that is registered with the government. All she said was that although they have an office in the name of the company nearby, they prefer to operate from home. The company is registered with a different address.
Desai's company does not seem to be well-known, and after the incident it raised many eyebrows in the civic circles. Several senior corporators questioned the BMC decision to award the bridge auditing contract to the company without examining their experience.
Opposition leader in the BMC and Congress corporator Ravi Raja said: "It is surprising that the auditor had given a wrong report stating that the bridge condition was good and the civic administration accepted it without examining the ground reality. All civic officials concerned, including the seniormost, should face action. It is a joke that instead of an independent inquiry, BMC officials themselves conducted probe into the incident (Himalaya FOB collapse)."
Prof D D Desai's Associated Engineering Consultants & Analysts got the contract to audit the 39 bridges in 2016. Two months after landing the deal, the company first inspected the Himalaya bridge in December. Another round of tests was conducted at the overbridge on April 2017, and the structural audit report was finally submitted to the BMC in August 2018, stating it was in good condition.
The BMC inquiry report on Friday said Desai's company has conducted Ultrasonic Pulse Velocity Test (UPV), rebound hammer test, carbonation test, thickness measurement of steel by ultrasonic gauge, penetration test on steel, etc before mentioning that the bridge was in good condition without any surface defect.
Prof D D Desai's Associated Engineering Consultants & Analysts said 12, including the collapsed bridge, are in good condition; nine, including Princess Street ROB, need major repair, 15 need minor repair, and asked for demolition of three (see box, P ).
Incorporated in 2003 with three directors-owner Neeraj Desai, Hemlata Desai and Neeraj's father Dilipkumar Dahyabhai Desai-the firm operates out of a small modest flat in a middle-class society in Andheri (W) where the Desai family lives.
On Friday , TOI visited the address-on the top floor of a three-storey building that doesn't have a lift. A woman answered the bell, but refused to discuss the bridge audit. In the hall, facing the door, sat an old man on a chair with a walker next to him. Another man, in his fifties, was sitting next to him.
When asked about Neeraj Desai, the woman said 'Mr Desai' was at the BMC headquarters since morning and one should approach him for details. She refused to share the company's address that is registered with the government. All she said was that although they have an office in the name of the company nearby, they prefer to operate from home. The company is registered with a different address.
Desai's company does not seem to be well-known, and after the incident it raised many eyebrows in the civic circles. Several senior corporators questioned the BMC decision to award the bridge auditing contract to the company without examining their experience.
Opposition leader in the BMC and Congress corporator Ravi Raja said: "It is surprising that the auditor had given a wrong report stating that the bridge condition was good and the civic administration accepted it without examining the ground reality. All civic officials concerned, including the seniormost, should face action. It is a joke that instead of an independent inquiry, BMC officials themselves conducted probe into the incident (Himalaya FOB collapse)."
Prof D D Desai's Associated Engineering Consultants & Analysts got the contract to audit the 39 bridges in 2016. Two months after landing the deal, the company first inspected the Himalaya bridge in December. Another round of tests was conducted at the overbridge on April 2017, and the structural audit report was finally submitted to the BMC in August 2018, stating it was in good condition.
The BMC inquiry report on Friday said Desai's company has conducted Ultrasonic Pulse Velocity Test (UPV), rebound hammer test, carbonation test, thickness measurement of steel by ultrasonic gauge, penetration test on steel, etc before mentioning that the bridge was in good condition without any surface defect.
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