RailEnquiry

NAGPUR: Taking serious cognisance of the TOI report on approaches to Mangalwari ROB peeling off even before it was opened to the public, Maharashtra minister for public works Jaidutt Kshirsagar on Thursday ordered an inquiry into the shoddy work.Kshirsagar told TOI that he has directed Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) superintending engineer Jeevan Nikose to inspect the ROB on Friday morning and submit a report immediately. He said guilty officials will not be spared.On Thursday, TOI had reported about the poor quality of work on the approach ramps on either side of the ROB, where the road asphalt has started peeling off.

North Nagpur MLA and EGS minister Nitin Raut too expressed concern over the substandard work while constructing the Mangalwari ROB, which connects North and West Nagpur. "I will also discuss the issue with PWD minister Kshirsagar," Raut said.

"On September 1, when I went for a trial run on the ROB along with some residents of North Nagpur, I was surprised to see that the curing of the bridge had not been done properly," he told TOI.

He lamented that the recently completed work was not up to the mark and was done in haste to meet the deadline, even though the deadline had been pushed back. "Even the curing of the deck slab over the railway track has not been done properly," he said.

Raut said, "MSRDC should ensure all safety norms are adhered to before opening the ROB to the public."

The Nagpur minister was, however, quick to point out that repair work of the ROB won't be a problem since the contractor had five years' maintenance liability.

It was due to Raut's efforts that the state and central governments had sanctioned this ROB under Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Mission, since the area comes under his legislative constituency.

CPWD senior engineer Abhijeet Chatterjee said that peeling of road might have been caused due to three reasons. "One may be due to overheating of the asphaltation, as it can wash away the coating. Secondly, asphalt coat may not have been applied properly, and lastly, the temperature of asphaltation was not maintained between 100 to 110 degree Celsius as required," he explained.

Even after TOI's report, MSRDC officials had not bothered to inspect the Mangalwari ROB till Thursday evening. Only after the minister's intervention did MSRDC executive engineer H Ghate inform TOI that the SE will inspect the ROB on Friday morning.

Meanwhile, NGOs across the city have demanded a probe by an independent agency like Visvesvaraya National Institute of Technology (VNIT) into the ROB work. "Guidance of VNIT should also be sought in inspecting road, overbridges and flyovers works," said Dinesh Naidu, secretary of Parivartan - The Citizens' Forum.