No action even after 6 months of Deoghar ropeway accident, many bridges are in dilapidated condition

Ranchi. The painful memories of the ropeway accident that took place on April 10 this year on Trikoot hill in Deoghar, Jharkhand have still not left people’s mind, but now hardly anyone cares. Where is the report of the high level committee formed by the government to investigate the accident? The reality is that the committee, which was supposed to complete the investigation in two months and submit its report to the government, has not completed this task even after almost six months.

Immediately after the accidents, the governments show tremendous speed and after a few days, how the entire system falls asleep under the blanket of carelessness, this is a perfect example of the same. Remind that on the Trikoot mountain of Deoghar, the famous religious tourist center of Jharkhand, on April 10, at around 6 pm, three people were killed, while more than one and a half dozen people were injured due to a break of a ropeway wire. .

A total of 78 people on 23 out of 24 trolleys of the ropeway were trapped in the air between the hill and the ditch. Of these, 28 people were rescued the same day, while 48 people were left hanging in the air between the hill and the ditch without eating or drinking anything for 36 to 45 hours. After 45 hours of risky operation by the Air Force, NDRF, ITBP and Army, 46 of these 48 people hanging in the air were rescued, while two people died during the rescue.

One person died before the trolley fell. It was then revealed that the company running the ropeway had neither maintained it as per the standards nor understood the need to rectify the lapses revealed in the safety audit. The safety audit of this ropeway was done for a long time and about 24 flaws were pointed out in it. Ignoring them, the ropeway was being operated indiscriminately.

After the accident, the Jharkhand government on April 19 had issued a notification for the formation of an inquiry committee under the chairmanship of state finance secretary Ajay Kumar Singh. It was said in the notification that the committee would submit the report to the government in two months. You may be surprised, but the truth is that the committee, which was supposed to report in two months i.e. 60 days, reached the spot after 70 days for investigation.

It is now being told that the committee has not been able to prepare its report due to the delay in getting the investigation report from the metallurgical lab of the shaft of the ropeway which caused the accident. The surprising thing in this case is that the report of the metallurgical lab has been received by the tourism department of the state about a month ago, but it has not yet reached the inquiry committee.

When the Morbi incident of Gujarat came to light this week, the investigation committee of the ropeway accident wrote a letter to the tourism department, demanding the report of the metallurgical lab. Now it is being said that soon the committee will submit its report to the government.

During the Yas storm on May 27 last year, a bridge built at a cost of 13 crores on the Haradih-Budhadih bridge on the Kanchi river near Ranchi was washed away even before its inauguration. Chief Minister Hemant Soren had then announced the formation of a high-level committee to probe it and said that corruption would not be tolerated at any cost.

In the inquiry committee, the engineer head of the road construction department, Murari Bhagat was made the chairman. Apart from this, Chief Engineer of Building Construction Department JP Singh was a member. The committee was asked to investigate the reasons for the collapse of the bridge and submit its report in a month. Even after one and a half years, neither the investigation report of this case is known nor any action has been taken against anyone.

In the year 2017, the bridge built on the Sevane river in Dandai Kalan of Sadar block of Hazaribagh collapsed in just four years. When this bridge was built, only then there was a complaint of its poor construction.

If this was proved in the investigation, then in 2013, Gopal Ram Rajak, the then executive engineer of the special division, was suspended. The contractor was instructed to build the pillar of the bridge again, but the bridge was badly damaged in the very first rain.

In fact, in Jharkhand, more than three dozen bridges have collapsed in the last one decade due to substandard construction work, but in any case, there is no such instance of identifying the culprits and taking concrete action against them. Some officers were suspended for a few months, but no further action was taken.

For example, bridge collapsed on river Kanchi near Balmadih in Sonahatu, Ranchi, bridge over Tehale river on Shahpur-Garhwa road at Chainpur in Palamu got washed away, collapse of bridge over Koel river in Chainpur itself, Nirsa in Dhanbad. There have been many accidents like damage to the bridge situated on the river Pusai, but the game of eyewash continued in the name of action.

There are still many such bridges in the state, which are posing danger every day. For example, the Chirkunda-Barakar bridge connecting Jharkhand and Bengal in Dhanbad has been damaged. Its two pillars have reached the verge of collapse. The soil and stones under the second pillar of the bridge have been removed from the side of Chirkunda, while the fourth pillar has cracked. This bridge can collapse at any time.

If this happens, there will be a huge loss of life and property, as well as the connection between Jharkhand and Bengal will also be broken. This bridge was constructed in the year 1925 by Kumaradhubi Engineering Works Limited (KEW). It is clearly written on the signboard on the bridge that any vehicle carrying a maximum load of 10 tonnes can pass. But flouting this instruction, goods vehicles pass through here every day.

Similarly, in Hazaribagh district, the bridge built on the Sevane river connecting Daru and Tatijharia blocks is getting damaged and sinking on one side, which can lead to a major accident anytime. The construction of this bridge was completed a few years ago at a cost of crores of rupees and in a very short time this bridge has been damaged dangerously. This bridge is situated on the main road connecting Dhanbad, Giridih, Gomia, Bokaro etc.

The bridge connecting Dhanbad-Jamtara at Bajra Ghat of Barakar river is under threat due to illegal sand mining. The Auranga river bridge in Latehar district headquarters has also reached a dangerous position due to indiscriminate mining of sand in the river. A bridge over Karo river on Govindpur-Urmi road at Torpa in Khunti district was damaged in August last month. A part of the bridge has bent down and it can cause a major accident any day. (IANS)