The Kolkata Flyover Disaster
On its website, IVRCL says the Kolkata flyover was a tough project to execute. The area is "very congested, hampering movement of heavy equipment," and "effective working hours only 6 that too at midnight".
This may partially be true. But it also raises questions as to whether the crisis that engulfed the company may have been a factor in the delays.
Six years later, only 45 per cent of the 2-km flyover had been completed, the company had admitted. When it collapsed yesterday, the builders were reportedly hurrying the project after Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee reportedly asked for its completion by February.
Eight officials of the company were detained on Friday in Kolkata and Hyderabad, a FIR has been filed under the relevant sections of murder and attempt to murder. A plea has also been filed in court against the company, seeking an investigation by the Central Bureau of Investigation.
Calling their attitude "casual" and "wrong", Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has said, "It is a big loss of human lives, strong action will be taken."
Opposition parties allege that the flyover was being built without proper planning and rules had been overlooked to allow its construction at a teeming commercial area.
BJP's Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said the disaster was an "act of fraud".
CPM's former minister Ashok Bhattacharya has claimed IVRCL was later blacklisted by some central and state governments. "Why did Mamata Banerjee allow IVRCL to continue," he asked.
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