The cops while seeking Kori's police custody at the Esplanade court said the engineer did not visit the spot and did not supervise the work properly.
After arresting retired chief engineer Shitalaprasad Kori of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation's (BMC) Bridge Department on Monday night, in connection with the fatal Himalaya bridge collapse, the Azad Maidan Police alleged that Kori was negligent towards his work. The cops while seeking Kori's police custody at the Esplanade court said the engineer did not visit the spot and did not supervise the work properly. Kori is the fourth one to be arrested in the matter; earlier the police had arrested Anil Patil, executive engineer, S F Kakulte, assistant engineer, and private auditor Neeraj Kumar Desai.
While Kori is being charged with negligence, two years ago, he was among the officials entrusted with the job of conducting an inquiry and preparing a final report on the 350-crore road scam.
A source from the Azad Maidan Police Station said Kori being the chief engineer was required to look into repairs, maintenance, audits, and other stuff that came under his purview. "We can see a clear case of negligence. Kori did not visit the Himalaya bridge for inspection. It was his primary responsibility. He did not even check with his associates about the progress of repair work of the said spot. As per BMC rules, after a senior officer visits a spot which he should, an entry is made about the visit but in this case, no records were found during the investigation. The incident could have been prevented if Kori had acted on his responsibilities," the source said.
Kori was also supposed to supervise the work and take reports from co-accused Kakulte and Patil, but he did not do so, the police said. While seeking bail for Kori, his advocate Ashwin Thool, argued in the court that Kori retired in June 2018 and the incident happened in March 2019; so there is no direct involvement to prove his negligence. "Kori has been cooperating with the police and providing all information which he holds in his capacity. The police should properly go through documents and show concrete evidence to establish that there was negligence on Kori's part," Thool said.
The Esplanade court on Tuesday sent Kori to police custody until Friday. The collapse of the foot over bridge, which connects Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus to BT Lane, had claimed seven lives and left many injured.
Sainath Rajadhyaksha, executive president of the BMC Engineers Union said that the engineers' community is very unhappy over Kori's arrest.
"Kori was a very upright officer and after this, it will be difficult for engineers to work with the BMC," said Rajadhyaksha. He added that they are getting calls from other engineers and they will decide on the course of action in a couple of days' time.
Sheer Negligence
The cops while seeking Kori’s police custody at the Esplanade court said the engineer did not visit the spot and did not supervise the work properly. BMC’s Retired chief engineer Kori is the fourth one to be arrested in the matter
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