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regular-article-logo Wednesday, 24 April 2024

Mumbai-based company to dismantle partially fallen Vivekananda Road flyover

The firm will be asked to start its operations by February after bagging necessary clearances from Lalbazar

Kinsuk Basu Calcutta Published 31.01.21, 12:36 AM
The Vivekananda Road flyover.

The Vivekananda Road flyover. File picture

A Mumbai-based company has been selected to dismantle the partially fallen Vivekananda Road flyover.

While the formal order has yet to be released, senior officials in the urban development department said the company will be asked to start its operations by February after bagging necessary clearances from Lalbazar.

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“The demolition of the Vivekananda Road flyover would be carried out in phases,” said a senior official of the urban development department.

A 41m-long deck slab of the flyover under construction had collapsed on March 31, 2016, killing 26 people.

Before starting the demolition work of the structure, the company would have to submit a report detailing how it wants to go about dismantling different portions. This report, spelling out the details of the methodology of demolition, would be vetted by consulting agency RITES.

A committee appointed to decide the fate of the Vivekananda Road flyover had recommended its demolition in September. V.K. Raina, a bridge engineer and the external expert on the committee, had made a presentation to a team of senior officials in Nabanna explaining the need to pull down the structure.

Over the next few months as the urban development department scouted for a demolition squad, the CMDA set up a team of engineers to keep a vigil on the structure. That exercise is still on.

Senior officials of the urban development department said in the first phase around seven pillars of the flyover, which don’t have a deck slab on its top and have shown signs of slight deviation from their original alignment, would be selected for demolition.

The flyover has 48 pillars with some already bearing the weight of the concrete deck slabs on them.

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