Bargarh bridge collapse: Two engineers arrested for neglect

Bargarh bridge collapse: Two engineers arrested for neglect

Contractor and an executive engineer of the project are absconding

SAMBALPUR: Two engineers of Rural Works Department were arrested by Bargarh Police on Monday in connection with the collapse of under-construction bridge on river Jeera in Bheden block of Bargarh district. They are Assistant Executive Engineer Kamlakanya Taria and Junior Engineer Manoranjan Mohapatra. The arrests were made on the complaint of Bheden Tehsildar Ajay Tiwari.
However, Executive Engineer (Rural Works) of Bargarh, Amulya Narayan Mohapatra and contractor of the project Amardeep Agrawal are absconding. Bargarh SP B Jugal Kishore said police are on the look-out for the two.

According to reports, the high-level bridge was being executed by Padampur-based contractor at an estimated cost of `8.5 crore. While eight slabs of the bridge had already been laid, work on the last span was underway when the accident took place. The bridge was to connect Jamdol village with Dhubenpali in the block.As many as 11 workers were present at the site when the accident took place, leaving five injured. Sources said the accident took place due to negligence of the contractor and the field engineers of the Rural Works Department, who overlooked many important parameters.

As per the construction parameters, such slabs require casting of two kinds of slabs. First, the ‘Sopit Slab’ is cast and the shuttering should be in place for at least 25 days. This is followed by casting of webs over which the top slab called ‘Deck Slab’, on which vehicles move, is cast. Sources said the contractor had removed the shuttering before 25 days for which ‘Sopit Slab’ could not bear the load of Deck Slab leading to the collapse. Had the shuttering been in place, the incident could have been avoided.
The Rural Works Department had warned Agrawal not to cast the Deck Slab during monsoon but he went ahead with the work and gave an undertaking that he would be responsible for any irregularity, sources said.

Apart from Chief Engineer of the Rural Works Department, Bharat Chandra Pradhan and Superintending Engineer, Sambalpur Circle, Ranjan Kumar Kar, Handloom Minister Snehangini Chhuria, Congress leader Nihar Mahanand, BJP State vice-president Aswini Sarangi visited the site on Monday. Pradhan said prima facie it appeared that the incident took place due to carelessness of the contractor. “He had not provided shuttering while casting the slab,” he said.Meanwhile, Bargarh District Congress Committee has demanded resignation of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik over the incident. They also demanded compensation of `4 lakh to those injured and judicial inquiry into the incident.

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