Days after Dadar foot overbridge incident, BMC directs audit of 157 Mumbai bridges

The BMC on Saturday appointed a Pune-based consultant to carry out an inspection of 157 bridges in the metropolis and submit a structural report within one month. The move comes a couple of days after the deck of a foot overbridge connected to CSMT railway station collapsed on Thursday evening, killing six people and injuring 31.

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), in a letter, directed Pune-based CV Kand Consultants Private Limited to carry out the structural audit on a “most urgent” basis.

"You are directed to-reinspect all the sites and review the structural report of all 157 bridges within one month’s time and submit the same with detailed investigation and recommendation," the BMC letter stated.

In 2016, CV Kand Consultants Private Limited had made an inventory of 157 bridges, road overbridges on railway tracks, foot overbridges, flyovers and vehicular subways in Mumbai’s western suburbs.

The civic body also issued show cause notice to DD Desai’s Associated Engineering Consultants and Analysts Private Limited on the inventory of bridges in the city. It asked the firm why it shouldn’t be blacklisted and losses be recovered from it.

Earlier on Friday, the BMC, in its preliminary investigation, had found that the structural audit of the FOB which collapsed was flawed and a diligent one could have avoided the tragedy.