Devendra Fadnavis orders judicial inquiry into Mahad bridge collapse

Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis on Thursday ordered a judicial probe into the collapse of Mahad bridge, which was given a certificate after the National Highway Authority conducted a safety audit in May.

In the Assembly, the chief minister assured leaders that a new bridge would be constructed on the site in record time.

Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Ajit Pawar sought to corner the government by producing a report about a local MLA who had raised the issue of the bridge’s safety in the House exactly a year ago. The government, at the time, had replied that the structure was safe. In his defence, the CM pointed out that in 2013, the then-chief minister Prithviraj Chavan and then-deputy CM Ajit Pawar had also received complaints about the dilapidated bridge.

“It is a serious incident and we will conduct a judicial probe into the matter. A three-man team from IIT has gone to the spot to create a primary report. The PWD zonal officials have been told to start a preliminary structural audit of the bridges built during the British era. We are also going to find out how the audit of the bridge was conducted in May. The government will construct a new bridge in record time there,” Mr Fadnavis told the Assembly.

Mr Pawar said that the government had neglected early warnings about the weak structure of the bridge. “On July 30, 2015, local MLA Bharat Gogavale had raised the issue in the House during Question Hour. He had said that a few plants had mushroomed all over the structure, which became weak when these small plants were removed. PWD minister Chandrakant Patil had then replied to the MLA that the bridge was in a good condition and functional. Despite pointing out that the bridge had become old, the government neglected it completely,” he alleged.

Questioning the government’s announcement on the audit of the 100-year-old bridges, Mr Pawar said every bridge needs '3 lakh and the process conducted be done via e-tendering, which takes more than 15 days. Pressing for action against errant officials, Mr Pawar asked why politicians were being held responsible, and not officials. “The officials, ministers or whoever else was responsible should face the music,” he added.