Lack of knowledge of a new construction technique and self devised ways to implement the project led to the recent collapse
of the foot overbridge at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium.
The Delhi government said this after a two-member fact-finding committee submitted its report on the collapse. The
September 21 incident - less than a fortnight before the start of the Commonwealth Games (CWG) - had injured at least
27 labourers.
According to a statement from the chief minister's office, the committee blamed UK-based Macalloy that had supplied the
bridge without "sufficiently" cautioning about its design constraints.
The government also came down heavily upon the constructor implementing the project as well as the Public Works
Department (PWD) which was responsible for supervisory failure.
"The methodology of the construction was not given by the design consultant. The contractor M/s P and R Infrastructure
Private Limited devised its own procedure without any approval," it said.
PWD had given the contract to P and R Infraprojects Ltd for a little over `5 crore. The company was blacklisted by the Delhi
government after the mishap.
The panel, comprising former CPWD director general H. S. Dogra and IIT professor Ashok Gupta, said the government gave
itself (PWD department) and its design consultants a clean chit on the matter. "The enquiry had found no substandard
material in the bridge," it said.
The government came down the hardest on the foreign company.
"The collapse happened because of the failure of joint of Macalloy suspender bars which had been prescribed as part of design
of suspension of deck of the overbridge with the main arch," it said.
The committee members recommended the government not to use Macalloy bars in similar projects till there is clearer
understanding of how it is to be used.
The panel questioned the UK firm's "change in stand" over certain aspects of the initial drawings of the overbridge.
"After the collapse, the UK-based company said it feels that the orientation of the gusset plate were in wrong plane. But no
such observations were made by them when the drawings were forwarded to them in April 2010 by M/ s P and R Infra." Delhi
government officials said the PWD will seek a clarification on the issue from Macalloy.
The government said the main fault originated in the bars and joints the overbridge was to be suspended from.
A thicker gusset plate was used because the recommended size was not available. It reduced the margin of rotation in the
joint, contributing to the failure.
(转自India Today/Mail today )