Bridges work stalled\, morale down

Mumba

Bridges work stalled, morale down

Engineers have gone on leave after the arrest of a retired chief engineer for his role in the Himalaya Bridge collapse.

Engineers have gone on leave after the arrest of a retired chief engineer for his role in the Himalaya Bridge collapse.   | Photo Credit: Emmanual Yogini

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Day 2 of mass leave; no engineers to supervise contractors carrying out repairs

A day after 42 of the 57 engineers of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s (BMC) Bridge Department went on mass leave, a few senior officers continued to work on proposals unofficially as repairs across the city have been stalled.

While dilapidated bridges have been shut, there are no engineers in the department to supervise contractors who have been tasked with carrying out repairs on bridges. The BMC has to carry out major repair on 47 bridges and minor repairs on 170 bridges.

Earlier, 14 decrepit bridges had to be demolished in the city, but with bridges in the western and eastern suburbs being re-audited, the number has increased. The department will have to now raze these bridges and invite bids for reconstructing them. Apart from the audited bridges, the BMC is executing work on 40 projects.

The work was already moving at a snail’s pace as most of the employees of the department were posted on election duty last month. Then the arrest of retired chief engineer S.O. Kori after the collapse of the Himalaya Bridge on March 14 shook the department. Mr. Kori was in-charge of the department till he retired last year. He was arrested on charge of negligence by the Azad Maidan police. This was the fourth arrest in the case and the third of a BMC engineer.

An engineer of the Bridges Department on condition of anonymity said, “On the one hand, we have to show solidarity with Mr. Kori, and on the other, we have to carry out the repairs. If another incident happens tomorrow, then people are going to blame us again. We are in a fix.” Another engineer said, “If a patient dies under a doctor’s care, can the police arrest the doctor? There is a separate council which looks into it. Similarly, if a municipal engineer has erred, there is a procedure laid down in the service rules for it. The matter needs to be investigated by those with technical knowledge.”

An officer from the department said that he condemned the arrest. “We are just doing some planning but all works have come to a halt as there are no engineers to supervise work.

Sainath Rajadhyaksha, president of Municipal Engineers’ Union, said the engineers will continue to be on mass leave. “On Monday and Tuesday, we will ‘work to rule’. Wednesday onwards, all engineers will protest at Azad Maidan,” he said.

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