The Andhra Pradesh government Monday suspended three engineers of Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) and ordered a probe into the collapse of a flyover that killed two people and injured nine Sunday evening.
The engineers were suspended for failing to monitor the work being carried out by the construction firm. State Labour Minister Mukesh Goud told reporters that a five-member expert committee had been constituted to probe the incident. He said stern action would be taken against those found responsible for negligence.
K. Jayachandran, general manager of Gammon India, which was building the flyover, said work by the Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Works and Sewerage Board (HMWSSB) to lay pipelines near the flyover might have loosened the soil, resulting in the accident.
Police have registered a case of negligence against Gammon India, which was building the two-km long flyover at a cost of Rs.300 million.
The rescue work at the accident site in the busy Punjagutta area was completed Monday. Two heavy cranes cleared debris from the collapsed portion of the flyover.
"Due to heavy rains the earth caved in and this led to the collapse of supporting iron structure," C.V.S.K Sharma, special officer and commissioner, Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) told IANS at the accident site.
He said six cars and three auto rickshaws were crushed under the flyover.
Meanwhile, Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy announced compensation of Rs.500,000 each to the kin of the deceased and Rs.20,000 to the injured.
The dead have been identified as N.B. Kumar, a farmer from Nizamabad district and Ankit Arora, a software engineer working for Infosys.
Hailing from Chandigarh, Arora had recently come to Hyderabad from Delhi with his friend Amandeep Singh, also a software professional. They were going to the Infosys campus when the flyover collapsed. While Arora died on the spot, Singh sustained injuries.
The mangled remains of cars and three-wheelers bore testimony to the disaster. Tonnes of iron scaffolding erected to mount the pre-stressed segments fell on motorists amidst heavy rains.
Eight segments, each weighing 40 tonnes, also crumbled with the platform. However, the death toll was not high as there wasn't heavy rush, with Sunday being a holiday.
After the recent bomb blasts in the city, officials had made tall claims that the flyover was designed to withstand any blast but a heavy downpour was enough to turn it into rubble.
Police have closed the Punjagutta-Nagarjuna Circle road to traffic and GHMC has ordered that the flyover work be stopped till the inquiry is completed.
The accident site is about 100 yards from the busy Panjagutta junction where the multiplex Hyderabad Central is located. It is one of the busiest junctions in the city linking Begumpet to several areas including up-market Banjara Hills and Jubilee Hills.
The flyover forms part of the series of flyovers to improve traffic movement towards Hitec City, which houses hundreds of software and BPO companies.
The accident came as a setback to municipal authorities as they were busy building half a dozen flyovers in different parts of this technology hub. They include an 11.5-km long expressway, connecting the city to the upcoming international airport at Shamshabad on the outskirts.
The mishap has now triggered fear among citizens. "It was a tragedy waiting to happen. The work is being executed without adequate precautions. If this can happen in the heart of the city, it can happen at other places as well where such flyovers are coming up," said D. Manoj, a software professional who uses this route to reach his office.
But officials were quick to allay their fears. "There is nothing wrong with either technology or the flyover. Nothing has happened to the flyover. It is the iron support which collapsed and we will take all necessary measures to prevent recurrence of such incidents," said Sharma.