Bhubaneswar, Sept. 11: After the Bomikhal railway overbridge collapsed and killed one person here yesterday, works department has shifted its focus to other ongoing and completed projects in the city to avoid a repeat in the future.
The works department has constituted a team consisting of chief engineer roads and chief engineer designs to inspect two similar projects at VSS Nagar and Pokhariput. The railway overbridge at VSS Nagar has already become functional, while the one at Pokhariput is still under construction.
"We have already inspected the Saheed Nagar railway overbridge, especially its Bomikhal side where the incident had occurred yesterday. We will do the same with the completed project at VSS Nagar and the one under construction at Pokhariput," said chief engineer roads O.P. Patel.
Patel told The Telegraph, that the department will now shift its focus to the railway overbridge project at Pokh-ariput and ensure that it was completed in a time bound manner.
"There were some initial problems with land acquisition that have now been resolved. We will resume work and ensure that adequate safety measures are in place," Patel said.
The state government had in 2008-09 sanctioned three railway overbridge projects for Bhubaneswar. These projects, which are being executed in collaboration with the Indian Railways, are coming up at VSS Nagar, Saheed Nagar and Pokhariput.
The work on all three overbridge projects should have been started in 2010, but due to some administrative glitches, they got delayed and began simultaneously in 2013.
The deadline for these projects was rescheduled to 2015, but even that could not be met.
The first among the three projects to become functional was the VSS Nagar railway overbridge.
Though delayed by a year, it was thrown open to the public in June last year. While work on the Saheed Nagar over bridge resumed after an amended plan to extend it to the Bomikhal side, the one at Pokhariput is nowhere near completion.
The Telegraph had reported on several occasions about the problems people faced due to the under construction over bridges at three places.
"In summer the stretches turn dusty, while in monsoon it a cesspool of slush. This makes movement risky for commuters. The slow pace of work is a major problem for us," said Pokhariput resident Niraj Mishra.
The collapse of a portion of the Saheed Nagar overbridge at Bomikhal yesterday has made residents here worried about safety issues. However, yesterday was not the first incident of a bridge collapse in the city.
In September 23, 2011, a three-foot long slab fell from a flyover on the busy Jayadev Vihar Square along National Highway 5. Fortunately, no one was hurt in that incident.
A similar case was reported on July 31, 2013, when an iron plate fell from the under-construction flyover at Fire Station Square killing a security guard.
On September 3, 2014, a labourer died and two others were severely injured when a concrete slab fell on them from the under-construction flyover at Rasulgarh Square.
"It seems the government had turned a blind eye to such incidents. Had it been sensitive, it would have taken adequate safety measures at the construction sites," said social worker Alok Mohanty.
In a related development, the Odisha Human Rights Commission today sought a detailed report about the incident from the works secretary and police commissioner within 15 days.
