KMDA engineers inspect Ultadanga flyover, traffic movement still locked down

Kolkata: Senior engineers of Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority (KMDA) inspected Ultadanga flyover on Wednesday, where cracks have appeared on the pillars which had been installed to repair it after a portion of the bridge collapsed in 2013.

State Urban Development minister Firhad Hakim said experts from Mumbai will come to the city on Thursday and will conduct a thorough investigation. Whether the flyover will be opened to traffic will be decided only after getting reports from them.

Traffic movement along the flyover has been stopped from Tuesday evening, which will continue for at least three days.

There was huge deployment of police to ease traffic movement along VIP Road on Wednesday morning. As the vehicles could not take the flyover that connects VIP Road with Eastern Metropolitan Bypass, there had been massive jam on Tuesday evening after the traffic ban came into force. Commuters going towards the airport side were greatly inconvenienced.

However, there was much less jam on Wednesday thanks to efficient traffic management. Traffic sergeants were posted at HUDCO intersection and EM Bypass intersection with Salt Lake to stop overtaking.

Though the traffic moved at a slower pace in the morning and evening peak hours, there was no bumper-to-bumper traffic bottleneck, which was anticipated.

A stretch on the flyover had collapsed on March 3. The incident took place within a few minutes after a loaded truck was passing by pier 13 and 14 of the flyover. The truck fell into the Kestopur canal and within seconds, the iron girder between piers 13 and 14 fell down.

The flyover was constructed by Mackintosh Burn in 2011, under the supervision of KMDA, while the design was made by Consulting Engineering Services.

The KMDA engineers said preliminary investigation has revealed that the iron pillars, which had been installed after the collapse of the flyover, have developed cracks failing to bear the load.