QRant: Not Just CST Bridge, Mumbai is Collapsing. Who is to Blame?

At least six people died and over 30 were injured in Mumbai on 14 March after a foot overbridge at CST collapsed.

At least six people died and over 30 were injured in Mumbai on Thursday, 14 March, after a foot overbridge collapsed at CST.

(Photo: The Quint)

At least six people died and over 30 were injured in Mumbai on Thursday, 14 March. How? It was not a terror attack, it was not a natural calamity. It was another bridge collapse.

A foot overbridge connecting the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus railway station or the iconic CST station and the area near The Times of India building collapsed in the busy hours of Thursday, 14 March. Six people died – all in their 20s, 30s and 40s. One victim was just 28 years old.

Before getting to the whodunnit, let's look at the other such incidents in the past five years.

2015:

A kuccha bridge, commonly used by two-wheeler vehicles in Malad (west), collapsed.

2017:

• A stampede broke out at the Elphinstone Road railway station, killing 30 people.
• A 67-year-old man was injured after a portion of a foot overbridge at the Charni Road station fell.
• A woman was injured at the Elphinstone Road railway station after a ceiling tile from a foot overbridge fell on her head.

2018:

• Part of a bridge collapsed on Mumbai’s Andheri railway tracks on 3 July 2018, halting train services in the area.
• A portion of a foot overbridge on Sion-Panvel Highway collapsed.

Nearly 40 people have died in seven bridge mishaps in the past five years. This is appalling.

The Same Old Blame Game Trick

Shockingly, the last safety audit for the CST bridge was conducted just six months ago and the bridge was declared ‘safe’ for use. The bridge was beautified under the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan in 2016.

That raises some very important questions:

• How were the shortcomings of the bridge missed in the audit?
• Who were the civic officials monitoring the audit? On what basis was the contract given to the auditors?
• Was a proper background check of the engineers and auditors done before they were given the responsibility?
• Maharashtra Minister Vinod Tawde said the bridge was not in a bad condition and only required minor repairs. Then why wasn't it closed till it was fully repaired?

Coming to the Railways, the state government and the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC).

The Railways says the bridge comes under the BMC, the BMC is somehow trying to put the blame on the Railways and a cabinet minister says that the bridge just needed minor repairs. The same old blame game cassette is being played.

The Buck Stops Where?

Dear politicians, your compensations, "kadi nindas" and photo-ops at the site of the mishap are no match for the cost of the people's lives lost - who were somebody's sisters, mothers, fathers and brothers.

Dear politicians, would you please remember the citizens in your "thoughts and prayers" before they die?

What Mumbai need is a concentrated, focused plan to revisit, restore and if need be, rebuild the crumbling infrastructure of the city.

Mumbai – the Maximum City – one of the richest civic bodies and pays insane amount of taxes. This city deserves better, for god’s sake!

Maximum city, maximum man-made disasters cannot become the new normal of aamchi Mumbai.