Tuesday was yet again an unfortunate day for the city. Gokhale bridge which connects Andheri East and West collapsed early morning and caused inconvenience to the commuters. Train services were suspended in the city during the day and some services, especially on the harbour line.
Railway Minister Piyush Goyal tweeted his remarks in the morning and visited the spot in the afternoon.
It was an unfortunate incident which happened at Andheri station today. I have ordered the Commissioner of Rail Safety (CRF) to immediately carry out the investigation and enquiry regarding the incident. More than 500 workers attended the spot immediately to control the situation, and resume the train services. I have studied the design of the bridge and I have come to know that Gokhale bridge was built 40 years back. When it collapsed, the entire bridge fell as it was a cantilever bridge. Keeping the importance in mind, I have also approached Devang Kakkad to help us with the audit in the city and he has kindly accepted our request. As per the directive, we will investigate 445 road-over-bridges, foot-over-bridges and other bridges in Mumbai Suburbs, over the next six months. A joint safety audit report will be planned in association with the Railways, BMC and IIT where the university will play a third party entity in the audit. We will focus on inspecting the design or flaw in the construction, and shall present the results in the audit," Piyush Goyal, Railway Minister.
As reported earlier, a motorman named Chandrasekhar Sawant stopped a train on time and avoided a serious accident as the Gokhale bridge was collapsing. Appreciating his efforts, Piyush Goyal announced a reward of ₹5 lakh by the railways. He also thanked him for being alert and saving lives during the incident. Further, he also announced that the injured will receive a sum of ₹1 lakh, and the treatment will be provided at Mumbai's Nanavati Hospital.
During his interaction with the media, Goyal also stated the facts that the last audit for this bridge was held on November 12, 2017 and no No major abnormalities or risk was observed then. He clarified that the audits are usually conducted during the nights, in the dark, once the train services have stopped and the power supply is cut to conduct the tests and investigations. Further, he stated that the audits during the day will only be possible of we cut the power supply and stop the services temporarily. But this would cause inconvenience to people and commuters.
Also Read: BMC Had Paid The Estimated Cost Of Repair To The WR In 2011
Sharing insights about the work and efforts put by BJP, Goyal said, "We have always focused on rail renewals and safety, and this has been done with due importance. Today's Gokhale Bridge incident was unfortunate. Looking at the projects and progress, I can say that the issues in the city have reduced."
Bringing the interaction to an end, Goyal thanked Mumbaikars for keeping the politics away and being supportive today.
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