Twitter
Advertisement

No more beautification of bridges before prior audit: BMC tells Bombay High Court

The civic body is also planning to take help of institutions such as the IIT and VJTI for regular maintenance of bridges experiencing high traffic.

Latest News
article-main
BMC also said that major lapses in audit led to Himalaya bridge collapse
FacebookTwitterWhatsappLinkedin

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) on Friday informed the Bombay High Court through an affidavit that it would be instructing all Assistant Commissioners to get advertisement boards and mobile internet towers removed from bridges.

It also assured that henceforth, surface beautification which increased load on bridges will not be allowed without a structural audit.

As per the affidavit, an-house team was being constituted for the structural audit of bridges which will be under the Chairmanship of the Chief Engineer (Bridges) and the civic body is recruiting engineers for the purpose.

The MCGM is also mulling a new policy for selecting consultants and auditors for maintaining FOBs. There will now be stricter qualifications for participating in the tender process. They will be expected to have studied the latest available international courses, the undertaking said. "Pre-qualification criteria for the contractor/bidders will now be reconciled by insisting only bridge-work experience for any bridge repair work," it stated.

The civic body is also planning to take help of institutions such as the IIT and VJTI for regular maintenance of bridges experiencing high traffic.

The affidavit also blamed the audit of the structural auditor DD Desai Associated Engineers and Consultants Ltd and said that the audit had not flagged any concerns and therefore repair work was not carried out on the Himalaya bridge. It stated that the said audit was 'not carried out correctly' and this 'major lapse' led to the accident.

It also said that work carried out by an Assistant Commissioner of A Ward (flooring and laying of cement mortar bedding) could have contributed to overloading of the deck-slab.

The affidavit was filed by the civic body in response to a petition by an activist Shakeel Shaikh whose petition had sought that the court directs the BMC to repair bridges and appoint an in-house committee of structural engineers to monitor the condition of bridges in the city. The petition was filed in the aftermath of the Himalaya foot-overbridge collapse near CSMT railway station.

During the hearing of the petition earlier, the HC had many of these observations such as the need of reaudit of bridges and the framing of a new foot-overbridge policy, which the civic body has incorporated in its affidavit.

Find your daily dose of news & explainers in your WhatsApp. Stay updated, Stay informed-  Follow DNA on WhatsApp.
Advertisement

Live tv

Advertisement
Advertisement