Govt floats fresh tender for health audit of Vivekananda Flyover

Kolkata: The Bengal government has completed tendering process with the aim to engage an agency which will assess the structural condition of the existing Vivekananda Flyover that collapsed on March 31, claiming 28 lives. The government had earlier failed to engage any agency in its previous two attempts.

The government had to float tender for yet another time as the agency that was engaged earlier for conducting the health audit of the flyover could not mention whether it would be repaired or it would be pulled down completely. Thus, no decision could be taken on the flyover's fate.

The Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority (KMDA) had therefore floated two separate tenders, one to assess structural condition and the other to remove the damaged girders.

Only two agencies had responded to the earlier tender floated by the government, to take up the assessment of the structural condition of the flyover. However, the state government could not engage an agency for the work as a minimum of three tenders was required to evaluate a bid document. As a result, the state government has been in a dilemma on whether to pull down the remaining structure or carry out repair works. The contract was granted to the Hyderabad-based IVRCL in 2008 and work was supposed to be completed by 2010, but it was never finished on time.

Following the disaster, the state government had formed an inquiry committee comprising former faculty members of IIT Kharagpur to probe into the collapse of the under-construction 2.2 km long flyover.

The committee had subsequently recommended dismantling the collapsed flyover. It pointed out that there were "serious flaws in design" and the raw materials used while constructing the flyover were of poor quality.

The state government has carried out a re-tendering of the work as it is keen on assessing its structural condition and removing the damaged girders simultaneously. It would also help the government in restoring the damaged flyover.

A senior government official said that tenders have been floated for "Condition Assessment and Preparation of the Detailed Project Report (DPR) for Repair, Retrofitting Works and Supervision of the Incomplete Vivekananda Road Flyover, Kolkata".

"Since there were no takers for the work of removal of damaged girders, it has been decided to go ahead with the structural assessment for the time being. We have decided to engage a new agency to carry out the health audit of the flyover in a fresh manner. The agency would conduct a comprehensive study of the health of the flyover and provide a health certificate, following which we would decide on whether the damaged portion can be repaired and made operational or not," the official said.