Kolkata disaster throws up questions on maintenance of Bengal's old bridges, flyovers

The statement brought about a free-for-all inside the run-as much as the Assembly polls. While ministers and state government officials refrained from commenting on viable reasons that led to fall apart of the Majerhat bridge, local human beings and professionals blamed loss of maintenance. 'A few years in the past, subsidence turned into detected in a part of Majerhat bridge and Eastern Railway authorities repaired the element,' a country public works department (PWD) reputable said on condition of anonymity. Incidentally, after the Vivekananda flyover collapse, leader minister Mamata Banerjee informed the kingdom Public Works Department (PWD) to form an inspection committee comprising officers from numerous departments and companies and look at every bridge and flyover in Bengal every month. Tuesday's incident one way or the other indicated that this changed into now not being performed. 'The Majerhat bridge carried the burden of extra heavy automobiles and boxes since the region is near the Kolkata port. When we're looking at a shape this large, girders, pass-girders, bearings et al need to be periodically inspected and repaired,' said structure engineering and Jadavpur University professor Partha Pratim Biswas. 'It is feasible that widespread digging that turned into accomplished by way of the Metro Railway authorities for the Joka Metro extension venture no longer a long way from Majerhat bridge. This may want to have led to rainwater gushing through underground tunnels and weakening the base of the antique structure,' a structural engineer said on circumstance of anonymity considering that he's operating with a PSU. 'The Majerhat bridge in extra than 30 years antique and it is a concrete structure that wishes less upkeep than a steel shape. In this case, nobody can question the exceptional of material and craftsmanship. It is simplest the age issue that are we able to can consider. But the nation authorities changed into aware about the age element that ails many vintage bridges. It also were given a survey performed by way of specialists from Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kharagpur. However not a whole lot became accomplished,' said the structural engineer. 'Majerhat bridge should no longer be taken as a case in isolation. A part of the flyover connecting Ultadanga to VIP Road in east Kolkata collapsed on March three, 2013 due to layout failure that became now not detected even 3 after it become constructed and opened to traffic. Acting at the survey document, the state authorities repaired quantities of the Chingrighata flyover in east Kolkata and Sukanta Setu in south Kolkata,' the engineer delivered. 'My car began sinking': Survivor describes the moment Kolkata bridge collapsed In March 2013, a large portion of the Ultadanga flyover collapsed at four:30 am. There become hardly any site visitors and handiest a truck fell into the canal under the flyover. The driver and other passengers have been rescued. Urban Development Minister Firhad Hakim stated at that time that a crack became detected in the flyover one-and-a-half of years ago and examined with the aid of experts from Jadavpur University. The trouble detected was no longer related to upkeep but a technical one, he said. Experts who carried out probe at the site of Vivekananda flyover in 2016 blamed layout flaw and use of inferior cloth for the catastrophe. They dismissed the construction business enterprise's preliminary argument that the incident was an 'act of God.' In April, 2016, structural and civil engineers with many years of experience in building bridges across the u . S . A ., informed HT that structural flaw of a T-formed pillar - technically a cantilever pier -brought about the collapse. A cantilever bridge rests on structures that task horizontally into space best on one quit. 'The design of the pier head (the t-junction) became inadequate. The palms definitely buckled under strain of the metal and urban,' Achyut Ghosh, a bridge expert and travelling professor at IIT Kharagpur, Jadavpur University and IIEST in Shibpur, informed HT on April 2. 2016. 'The bridge become but to be inaugurated, and consequently, there have been no pressure of motors that a functioning flyover incorporates. This proves that it turned into really a design failure,' brought Ghosh. 'This become preventable. It cannot be referred to as an twist of fate,' he added. Experts additionally pointed out that cantilever piers are one of the most unstable systems and are commonly prevented. If actually important they may be meticulously designed and need ideal implementation with strict satisfactory check of materials. 'It seems to be a technical failure. What become jogging on two pillars (at the begin of the bridge) has converged on to at least one pillar. But this unmarried pillar did no longer have adequate electricity,' stated professor Arun Chakravarti of IIEST, Shibpur. Incidentally, lack of upkeep or inferior cloth aren't the best factors that ails vintage bridges in Kolkata. In December 2017, Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority performed emergency maintenance on 50-12 months-vintage Dhakuria bridge in south Kolkata as rats had chewed into its foundation at each flanks. 'The foundation faced danger a few years in the past because rats chewed away soil from its base. Repairs needed to be achieved. Gaps regarded on the street floor because sure portions caved in,' stated a KMDA official on circumstance of anonymity. Like Majerhat bridge, Dhakuria bridge too runs over the tracks of Eastern Railway's south suburban phase. Dailyhunt http://www.dead.net/member/zeeraveeraz