Within hours of the collapse of the Andheri bridge, the railways and the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) started trading blames over the jurisdiction of the bridge. None of the parties was ready to take responsibility as five people were injured in the incident. Mayor, Vishwanath Mahadeshwar accused the railways of not maintaining the bridge and overlooking complaints from the citizens, as the railway was in-charge of the upkeep of the portion of the bridge that collapsed.
Shiv Sena blamed the railways, once again, on Thursday for the poor conditions of foot overbridges (FOBs) in the city. It did so in an editorial in ‘Saamana’, the voice of the Sena which also dominates the working of the BMC. The editorial piece which said that the railway administration was found ‘dozing’, referred to incidents that highlighted the railway’s negligence over the upgradation of the infrastructure.
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The editorial quoted, “There are reports that a citizen had highlighted the poor condition of the [Andheri] bridge a year ago through posts on social media. But like always, the warning was neglected.”
Similarly, it alleged that the railways did not take the required measures when an audit was ordered after the Elphinstone Road Stampede in September 2017. The railway minister had ordered an audit of the 445 FOBs in the city after the collapse.
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