Government planning to repair portion of collapsed flyover

Kolkata: West Bengal government is planning to rebuild portion of the Vivekananda flyover which collapsed last year and allow light vehicles to ply on it.

The government may allow running of lighter vehicles like motorcycles and cycles on the flyover.

The expert committee that recently submitted its report at the state secretariat Nabanna is apprehensive that pulling down the flyover completely will pose a risk to the buildings located adjacent to the flyover, which is in a densely populated area.

“Apart from the chances of damage to the adjacent buildings, razing the flyover completely will also involve huge expenses on the part of the state government,” a highly placed PWD source said.

According to the expert committee’s report, the portion of the flyover, which has not caved in, is also not in the best of condition to run heavy vehicles on it. “Analysing the pros and cons, the state government feels it is more feasible economically and also considering the humanitarian aspect to repair the portion of the collapsed flyover and open it for light vehicles,” the official said. .

The expert committee that has also mentioned the findings of Anandarpan Gupta and Swapna Majumdar, both former professors of civil engineering and structural engineering, respectively, at IIT-Kharagpur, who had pointed out the flyover design was faulty, and poor-quality material led to the collapse.

The matter will be discussed with the Kolkata Police before starting the repair work.