PTI
HYDERABAD, April 1
The Hyderabad-based IVRCL, which was constructing the flyover on Vivekananda Road in Kolkata, on Friday described the collapse as an “accident,” a day after another official of the company dubbed it as an “act of god.”
“An act of god was just an expression only to describe that it is under no one’s control”, the construction company’s legal team head, P. Sita, told reporters in Hyderabad.
K. Panduranga Rao, Group Head (HR & Admin) of the Hyderabad-based company told reporters on Thursday, “It’s nothing but a god’s act. So far in 27 years we have constructed several numbers of bridges… such thing [collapse] never happened.”
Ms. Sita said on Friday, “We are surprised and extremely shocked. We are there to cooperate with investigation, but investigation takes time.”
Showing a photograph in a newspaper, she said it “looked like a site of a bomb blast. There were various aspects, which would be looked into”.
Stating that same construction materials were used in building the ongoing flyover, she said, “Why did this happen? We are anxious to know the reasons.”
Regarding the delay, another official of the company said, “78 per cent work of the flyover is over. A number of clearances have not yet come.”
Meanwhile, a four-member police team from West Bengal arrived in Hyderabad on Friday to question officials of IVRCL.
“They have come and are doing investigation,” a top police official of Hyderabad Police told PTI.
The Kolkata Police on Thursday registered a case against the construction firm under Sections 304, 308 and 407 of the IPC and sealed the local office of company.
Flyover should have been remodelled says local Trinamool MP
With the official death toll in Kolkata flyover collapse increasing to 24 here on Friday local Trinamool Congress MP Sudip Bandyopadhyay courted a fresh controversy during the day by saying that the flyover should have been “remodelled” but was not done considering the investment already made into the project.
“My opinion is that it would have been better if it (flyover) was remodelled,” the MP who visited the site of accident said.
Speaking to journalists the MP said that the project should not have been approved at the first place and there was lot of issues among the locals regarding it.
However, while pointing out technical problems in the flyover construction, Mr. Bandyopadhyay said that about 50 -60 per cent of work on the project was completed and thus the project was allowed to continue.
“The State government has to look into financial issues as well … Do you know how much money is spent in constructing a flyover,” he asked journalists.
The remarks by the MP triggered strong reactions from the political parties in the Opposition particularly the Left Front and Congress whose leaders said that allowing a mishap to occur is “criminal”.
BJP leader Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi demanded a probe by Central Bureau of Investigation in the matter.
Meanwhile, senior officials of Kolkata police said that five officials of the IVRCL, the infrastructure company contracted to build the flyover have been detained in connection with a police complaint lodged in the matter.
A public interest litigation was also filed before the Calcutta High Court during the day demanding a court monitored probe into the mishap.
“So we have urged the court to form a committee comprising experts from IIT Kharagpur which will probe under the supervision of the court. We have also urged for a CBI probe into the whole matter,” said Goutam Dey, counsel for the petitioner.
