The incident of road subsidence on the Eastern Bypass of Bhopal has raised serious questions on the quality of construction. Madhya Pradesh Road Development Corporation (MPRDC) has released its preliminary investigation report on this matter, in which the corporation gave a strange argument saying that the road sank due to digging of soil by farmers. However, the report also admitted that the road was not constructed as per the technical standards and the quality of the soil was also not satisfactory.
Actually, on Monday Bhopal An approximately 75 meter long section of the bypass suddenly caved in near the Dry Sevaniya Railway Overbridge (ROB). R.E., built under the road. The retaining wall was damaged, due to which the entire road caved in. The fortunate thing was that there was no vehicle there at that time, due to which there was no loss of life. Immediately after the incident, MPRDC and police took action and barricaded the entire area and the traffic is being diverted from the other lane and is being operated smoothly.
Questions raised on construction quality
In a statement issued by MPRDC on Tuesday evening, it was said that during prima facie inspection, the technical team found that the investor company had not registered with R.E. The wall was not constructed as per the prescribed standards. The quality of the soil was weak and stone pitching work was not done in the embankment. The soil became further weakened due to water seepage during rains, while digging of soil near the wall by farmers blocked drainage. As a result, the water filling increased the pressure within the embankment and part of the road caved in.
Formation of inquiry committee
After the incident, the corporation has constituted an inquiry committee of three senior technical officers, which will submit a detailed report within seven days. Along with this, the repair work of the sunken part has been started immediately, which is targeted to be completed in ten days. The corporation also informed that samples of soil used in construction have been taken and sent to the central laboratory of PWD for testing. After the investigation report comes, if any negligence is found in the construction, the accountability of the investor, consultant and concerned departmental officers will be fixed.
It is noteworthy that Bhopal Eastern Bypass was constructed by B.O.T. (Toll) was done under the scheme. Its work was entrusted to Transtroy Private Limited Company of Hyderabad. This project was completed in 2012-13 under the contract signed on 18 November 2010. The duration of the contract was fixed at 15 years, but in 2020, due to non-compliance of the terms of the contract by the company, the contract was canceled and the company was blacklisted for three years.
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