Hatkeshwar flyover to be demolished, Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation files FIR

AHMEDABAD: For the first time in the 192-year history of the Ahmedabad civic body, a newly built flyover will be demolished.
The contractors, on-site engineers, consultants, and civic officials were allegedly engaged in a "criminal conspiracy" during the construction of the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj flyover bridge project at Hatkeshwar and had been "playing with the lives of citizens".

The AMC, in its FIR filed at Khokhra police station, admits to a nexus which had a "clear malice of the intention of earning super-profits, by deploying poor quality of raw materials including concrete, without any care for the consequences". At a press conference, municipal commissioner M Thennarasan announced the demolition of the flyover superstructure after two committees over eight months of deliberations unanimously agreed that the flyover was "dangerous for commuters".
The FIR has been registered against the five directors, managers and engineers of the contractor Ajay Engi-Infrastructure Pvt Ltd, along with four persons from the project management consultant, SGS India Pvt Ltd. Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) on its part has suspended four engineers and four retired engineers will face departmental inquiries.
The in-charge city engineer for bridge projects, who was on an extension after his retirement, Hitesh Contractor, has been removed from all projects.
The FIR states that the flyover's concrete "cannot be relied upon".
A three-member committee formed on March 25 had found that the concrete had dangerously low compressive strength, at 10 newtons per square metre against the desired 45 newtons per square metre. The report concluded that a high water-to-cement ratio had turned the concrete porous and the "flyover had low concrete density".
An earlier report by IIT Roorkee observed "formation of cracks... under heavy axle truck load".
The report observed that the flyover had a "horrible horizontal geometry giving rise to conditions where the axles of loaded trailers came perilously close to the kerb inducing moments far larger than what the bridge was designed for."
The report adds, "...what emerged from various test analyses carried out by independent agencies is that it (flyover) is completely unsafe to permit passengers and regular traffic".
The FIR names the chairman of AEIPL Ramesh Patel and its directors Rasik Patel, Chiragkumar Patel and Kalpeshkumar Patel. From SGS PVT Ltd, the FIR names its director Amit Thakkar, Sashibhushan Jogani and project engineer Nilam Patel.
Thannarasan said, "We will blacklist the PMC and the contractor and will recover the cost of demolition and construction of the new flyover from the accused. Right now we have ordered demolition of the flyover superstructure (deck) while a decision on the piers is yet to be taken."