Flyover collapse: Panda Infra chief, two others sent to judicial custody

Bhubaneswar: A local court here on Tuesday rejected the bail pleas of Panda infra chief Pratap Panda, suspended Assistant Engineer Kishore Rout and project manager Vipul Chakraborty and remanded them to 14-day judicial custody in connection with the Bomikhal bridge collapse incident in which one person had died and 11 others sustained serious injuries on Sunday.

Earlier in the day, Commissionerate Police arrested Rout and Chakraborty. Rout was taken into custody after he surrendered before Bhubaneswar DCP Satyabrata Bhoi. Panda was arrested after he too surrendered the previous day.

On the other hand, Right to Education (RTE) activist Pradip Pradhan slammed the state government for taking no lesson from the recent collapse of Rusikulya, Jatamundia, Buguda and Gurupriya bridges.

Addressing a media conference here, he said, “The order for Bomikhal flyover bridge was awarded in 2012 at a cost of Rs 22 crore without land acquisition. Even though a number of cases pertaining to the flyover are pending in Orissa High Court, the government, instead of cancelling the order, prolonged the construction process since it would lead to cost escalation.”

The RTE activist said centering of the bridge was done before four months. “The executive engineer concerned is supposed to approve the centering design and make quality control of the fabrication work which uses 600 mm RCC slab weighing 200 tons placed at a height of 30 feet. Moreover, the slab was supposed to be casted in presence of the executive engineer. But we have doubts if these steps were taken or not. The centering was left open for four months in the rainy season, which added to rusting of the steel rods. Hence, it is a question that why did the authorities allow such delayed casting. Further, it is understood that the soil under the bridge was washed away due to a nearby sewer line along with monsoon rain. Did the officials and contractor take note of it?” he questioned, hinting at negligence on the part of officials.

Alleging corruption and favouritism, he demanded an independent probe into the incident.