Special probe team seeks more time to submit final report
Gurugram: A special probe team that was constituted by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) to investigate the collapse of a portion of the Sohna elevated flyover has now sought more time to present its report.
According to sources, the initial findings of the report were shared by top NHAI officials in Delhi. Based on sources, there are several possible reasons that have been cited for the collapse of the portion of the flyover. These include the quality of concrete used in the section, the possible displacement of the stressing cables or the possible formation of a cavity in the span that was not visible from outside.
It was however found that more details had to be found out for the collapse. The officials of NHAI have refused to comment on the matter as of now and have said that they will only be sharing the contents once the final report is prepared.
The committee comprises VL Patankar, ex-DG, Ministry of Road and Transport Highways (MORTH), AK Srivastav, Advisor, NHAI, PG Venkataram, bridge expert and Vinay Gupta, bridge expert.
It is important to note that more than one month has passed since the slab of the Sohna flyover suddenly collapsed on the night of August 22. The NHAI had suspended work on it but now
resumed.
Facing extreme criticism over the collapse, the NHAI, in a swift move, had suspended two engineers involved in the project for two years. The two officials have been identified as RK Prajapati who was the team leader of the project and Devender Reddy who was looking after the department of procuring materials involved in the construction of the flyover. The NHAI has also taken stern action on the three contractors involved in the construction of the part of the flyover that collapsed.
In addition to barring them from future NHAI bids, the authority also served a show-cause notice to the three contractors namely Oriental Infrastructure, B and S Engineers and LN Malviya of not ensuring proper safety mechanisms around the construction site and not placing barricades until the mishap occurred.
