Trinamul Congress MP Sudip Bandyopadhyay on Friday made a sensational statement that not only was he aware of the serious flaws in the design of Vivekananda flyover, he had also informed the Mamata Banerjee government about them. He acknowledged the flyover should have been remodelled but it was not done because the state government would have to incur massive additional expenditure.
Mr Bandyopadhyay visited the site of the mishap which falls in his Kolkata North constituency.
“The plan and design of the flyover were made during the Left regime. There were flaws in the design from inception and locals had even complained about them. In fact, they were opposed to the construction of this flyover. I, as their elected representative, had informed the state government. At one point, it was even planned that a portion would be demolished and the flyover would be remodelled,” he added.
When asked why this was not done, Mr Bandyopadhyay pointed out that by then over 50 per cent of the project was completed and therefore such a move would have entailed huge expenditure.
When asked why he did not press for a change in the design, Mr Bandyopadhyay said, “Who am I (to persist) I am just a people’s representative. It’s the maa-maati-maanush government.”
Mr Bandyopadhyay also read out a list of other disasters which had taken place in the city in the past to drive home the point that the flyover tragedy was not the first incident of its kind which involved heavy casualties.
“Disaster is not a new thing in Kolkata. There have been similar accidents in the past. It could have been more serious, but it was god’s good grace,” he added.
Reacting sharply to Mr Bandyopadhyay’s statement, the Opposition said it was a clear admission of guilt.
“I was stunned to hear such a thing from the lips of an elected MP. It means Sudip is saying the Mamata government pushed large number of people into the jaws of death just to save a few crores,” state Congress president Adhir Chowdhury said. He pointed out that Ms Banerjee forced the railways to realign the East West Metro project.
“The railways had to bear an additional cost of hundreds of crore because of the realignment. The state government would have to spend only a few more crores but it would have saved 25 precious lives,” he added.
CPI(M) MP Mohammad Salim said that when the state government was informed by Mr Bandyopadhyay about the basic flaws, it should have immediately ordered a redesigning of the flyover even if it required reconstruction of a portion.
“They should have cancelled the contract, called fresh tenders and awarded a new contract to another company,” he added.
