10 potential death traps in Mumbai!
20 March 2019, Mumbai: Amidst the arrest of auditor Neeraj Desai who conducted audit of the Himalaya bridge in CSMT before it collapsed, Mumbai Congress President Sanjay Nirupam today exposed complacency by the BMC and the Devendra Fadnavis Govt. Questioning the civic body over its failure to raze 10 dangerous bridges in Mumbai, Sanjay Nirupam has also targeted Maha CM Devendra Fadnavis accusing him of shielding the top BMC officials despite their failure in securing the lives of the Mumbaikars.
Following the collapse of Andheri’s Gokhale bridge in July 2019, 296 bridges in Mumbai constructed between 2016-18 underwent an audit which marked 14 bridges dangerous. Furthermore, it also recommended their immediate demolition and reconstruction. Nirupam pointed out that only 4 of these 14 bridges have been demolished so far.
“The fact that there are 10 potential death traps right in the middle of the city simply shows the careless attitude displayed by the BMC towards their job and lives of the honest taxpayers of the city. The civic body has neither created awareness among pedestrians about the danger these bridges pose nor have they put up warning signages around most of them. If the BMC has not razed these dangerous bridges despite the audit report clearly mentioning their pathetic state, we don’t know how many more deaths and accidents will it take before the civic body finally opens its eyes, accept its failures and start working for the people”.
Slamming one of BJP Mumbai’s spokesperson Sanju Verma, who blamed the pedestrians for the collapse of the footover bridge near the crowded CSMT railway station killing 6 and leaving 32 injured, Sanjay Nirupam lashed out at the BJP Govt for shielding the top officials in the civic body. Calling the present Govt insensitive, the Mumbai Congress Chief has urged Maha CM Devendra Fadnavis and the Shiv Sena ruled BMC to not play with the lives of Mumbaikars anymore.
