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Mahad tragedy: PIL seeks prosecution of government officials

Mahad local Pranay Sawant (46) has filed the PIL. Sawant said he will also request the SC to monitor the structural audit of all British-era bridges that the Maharashtra government has ordered.

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Seeking prosecution of the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) and the state government officials for the collapse of a British-era bridge on the Mumbai-Goa National Highway 17, which killed 26 people, a public interest litigation (PIL) was filed in the Supreme Court (SC) on Thursday.

Mahad local Pranay Sawant (46) has filed the PIL. Sawant said he will also request the SC to monitor the structural audit of all British-era bridges that the Maharashtra government has ordered.

On August 2, two state transport buses and some private vehicles drowned in the Savitri river and were swept away, as uninterrupted and heavy downpour triggered the collapse of a colonial era bridge connecting Mahad and Poladpur in Raigad. Almost a week after the collapse, the rescue teams have recovered the wreckage of the buses, while 16 people are still missing.

In his petition, Sawant said there was complete negligence on part of the state machinery in utilising funds for safety and maintenance of the bridge, and that there should be an investigation into the maintenance of the bridge.

The petition also pointed out that the state government or NHAI did not put up any signage indicating the weak condition of the bridge, which could have averted the tragedy.

In addition, the PIL has also prayed that the cost of the lengthy rescue operation must be borne by the officials rather than the taxpayers. Sawant said he lost his cousin in the bridge collapse and claimed that he has been corresponding with the government regarding the maintenance of the bridge since 2012.

"My cousin was travelling in one of the state transport bus that drowned in the Savitri river," said Sawant, who also contested the 2014 assembly elections in the state on a Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) ticket.

Following the bridge collapse, the Navy and National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) were pressed into action. During the rescue operation, bodies were recovered from Anjarle beach, 150 km from the bridge. Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis has ordered a judicial probe and a structural audit of 36 British-era bridges across the state.

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