New Delhi, Sep 21 : After questions over preparations and cleanliness, government and Commonwealth Games organisers on Tuesday faced further embarrassment when an under-construction foot overbridge collapsed injuring 27 people outside the Jawaharlal Nehru stadium, the main venue for the mega event.
The collapse of the 95-metre long hanging bridge was the second such incident since yesterday when a canopy erected at the stadium fell, injuring an Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police and another policeman.
The bridge, which was intended to be a showpiece and connect the parking lot of the stadium with other side of the street in Lodhi Road area in South Delhi, caved in at around 3.10 PM when construction work was underway. 27 labourers were injured, five of them seriously, in the incident that occurred outside the stadium where the opening and closing ceremonies of the Games would be held.
The bridge was being built along with another overbridge at the cost of Rs 10.5 crore by Chandigarh-based company PNR Infra, Delhi government sources told PTI. Public Works Department of Delhi government, which had given the contract to PNR Infra for constructing the overbridge, immediately ordered an inquiry into the incident.
The collapse increased embarrassment for the government and CWG Organising Committee at a time when they are facing questions from the CWG Federation over preparedness, even at the Games Village which has been dubbed has "filthy". Delhi PWD Minister Raj Kumar Chouhan told reporters that the mishap occurred due to "unequal distribution of weight".
The labourers were putting mix of concrete when it fell, Chouhan said. He contended that "The structure is fine" and "we can make the (collapsed) structure operational before the Games." A "different structure" can also be made, he said. Interestingly, Union Urban Development Minister Jaipal Reddy, who heads the Group of Ministers on the Commonwealth Games, sought to blame the rains for the collapse.
"There have been heavy rains for last 20 days. I don't have much details about the collapse. But I am sure the Games will be absolutely world class," Reddy said.
However PWD Chief Engineer Rakesh Mishra, however, had a differing view on this. "It did not happen because of rain. Something has gone wrong leading to the incident. We are looking into all aspect of it," Mishra said. He admitted that the incident was a "setback" but expressed confidence that the project would be completed before the Games that start on October three. PTI
