Failure of 650 crore brand new bridge over Yamuna near Banda in UP

The news item telecast by news channels reporting failure of a span of bridge over Yamuna near Banda (UP) only 13 days after its inauguration should awaken the polity to the  disasters with which our country is beset on account of increasing clout of corruption on our institutions. The bridge had been built at a cost of Rs650 crores.The visuals shown in the news -items depicted clearly that the concrete was of a very poor quality.During my entire service of over three decades in construction industry, including a stint of four years as Senior Structural Engineer with Section 11 of Iraq Expressway No 1, I have never seen such a poor quality of concrete. This episode confirms my belief that the engineers and officials of the supervising agency are ready to overlook any thing in return for the commissions they are receiving from the contractors.The country had been recently put to shame due to the collapse of an under construction foot bridge near JLN stadium only a few days before CWG. Also, there have been incidents of failure of under construction chimneys during last one year.

These incidents will go on increasing if the institutional arrangement for overseeing construction of public services is not toned up. Also, there is a need to force the concerned authorities to take strict action against the guilty contractors and the conniving officials. This has to be done by public as the concerned governments have abdicated their responsibility.