West Bengal: Under-construction flyover collapses near Siliguri, no casualties reported
It is a part of the 3,300-km-long East West Corridor connecting Porbandar in Gujarat and Silchar in Assam.
A portion of a four-lane under-construction flyover collapsed near West Bengal’s Siliguri on Saturday morning, reported Siliguri Times. No casualties were reported, said the police.
The incident took place before dawn near Kanthibhita in Phansideva, about 20 km from Siliguri. Restoration work is under way.
After the incident, residents pulled up the engineer alleging that poor quality raw materials were being used in the construction of flyovers. Police personnel have been deployed in the area to avoid any untoward incident.
The flyover is a part of the 3,300-km-long East West Corridor connecting Porbandar in Gujarat and Silchar in Assam. The district magistrate has ordered an inquiry. “I cannot comment immediately on what led to the collapse of a portion of the flyover,” Darjeeling District Magistrate Joyoshi Dasgupta told the Hindustan Times. “I am in touch with the National Highways Authority of India officials.”
State Tourism Minister and President of Trinamool Congress’ Darjeeling unit Gautam Deb said the NHAI has to look into the collapse. “This is a part of the East West corridor,” said Deb. “The NHAI is in charge of it. They have to look into why the mishap took place. I shall speak to them.”
Larsen and Toubro, which is constructing the flyover, said it was also investigating the collapse. “We are looking into the possible reasons,” engineer Suman Banerjee told Hindustan Times.