Varanasi Bridge Collapse a “Natural Disaster”: UP Bridge Corp MD

Senior UP State Bridge Corporation officer blames Varanasi flyover collapse on thunderstorms that struck last week.

An under construction flyover collapsed in the Cantonment area of Varanasi.

(Photo: Twitter/@raydeep)

On Tuesday, 15 May, a portion of an under-construction flyover collapsed in Varanasi, claiming the lives of 18 people while leaving several others injured. The incident, which caused outrage and despair alike, was termed a “natural disaster” by Rajan Mittal, the managing director of Uttar Pradesh State Bridge Corporation Ltd, reports the Hindustan Times.

The senior official also ruled out the use of poor quality construction material and blamed the collapse of the flyover upon the thunderstorm that struck the city last week.

“Thunderstorms Caused the Flyover to Collapse”

Preliminary findings point towards a loose cross-beam connection or a bearing failure. The beam may have got dislodged from its socket because of the thunder-storm and fell. So it may be a natural disaster.

Rajan Mittal to HT 

When asked if the cause of the accident could have been a rush to complete the project before the deadline, he added that even though the pressure always exists, all safety measures in compliance with the rules were being followed.

Traffic movement should not have been allowed underneath the bridge. It’s a very congested area. We had written several letters to the police and administration authorities to regulate and impose traffic restrictions around the construction site. But our requests went unheeded.

Mittal to Hindustan Times 

All Ongoing Projects Stopped Temporarily

Keshav Prasad Maurya, the state’s public works department minister who is also the deputy chief minister, visited Varanasi on Tuesday, 15 May, and directed the corporation to review all ongoing and upcoming projects to ensure that safety standards are met on a priority basis.

According to Mittal all ongoing projects of the corporation have been temporarily stopped unless safety norms and precautions are checked and put in place.

The company, which has many successful projects under its belt, has come under fire twice before, and while inquiries were ordered by the state government, against the engineers and officials, no concrete action was taken against them.

Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has also inquired as to why safety measures were not in place, while expressing his sympathy towards the victims and their families.

(With inputs from the Hindustan Times.)

(The Quint is now on WhatsApp. To receive handpicked stories on topics you care about, subscribe to our WhatsAppservices. Just go to TheQuint.com/WhatsApp and hit send)