The court was hearing a Public Interest Litigation seeking a judicial inquiry into the Himalaya bridge collapse incident by a retired high court judge.
The Bombay High Court on Tuesday suggested that the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation should consider handing over the periodic structural audit of high footfall bridges to expert agencies like the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) or Veermata Jijabai Technological Institute (VJTI).
The court was hearing a Public Interest Litigation seeking a judicial inquiry into the Himalaya bridge collapse incident by a retired high court judge.
A division bench of Chief Justice Naresh Patil and Justice N M Jamdar, told the corporation that "the incident should be considered as an eye-opener. Come out with a new policy, which will govern audit, repair and upkeep of rail and foot over bridges.
The bench also suggested the civic body to supervise the bridge maintenance and upkeep over an above the structural audit carried by private firms. "Hold your chief engineer of bridges accountable. Ask him to conduct routine checks over and above the structural audits. Civic body must streamline its tender process to introduce stringent criteria ensuring only such contractors who had the requisite expertise and were capable of doing good work were chosen for structural audits and repairs of bridges."
Referring to Rs 2.5 crore spent by the BMC on carrying out structural audits of bridges across the city, the bench asked, "When you (BMC) are spending crores of rupees, then why don't you ensure quality?"
Senior Advocate Anil Sakhre, appearing for the corporation sought time to file its reply to the petition and said that soon after the incident the civic body was already re-auditing all bridges in the city.
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