Vijayawada (central) MLA Malladi Vishnu said that he had taken up the issue of the collapsing of the girders of the flyover under construction near Gunadala with the Minister of Municipal Administration M. Mahidhar Reddy. The MLA visited the site on Wednesday, where four girders had collapsed on Monday night.
The MLA said that a note had been sent to the secretary concerned for investigation and appropriate action.
Reiterating the statement of the VGTM UDA Vice-Chairman on the cause of the collapse, the MLA said that it was believed that one of the girders had slipped from its position as it was not aligned and fastened and it brought the other three down.
“Whatever be the cause, be it negligence of the contractor or the officials concerned, fitting action will be taken against them after a proper inquiry,” said Mr. Vishnu.
The MLA was the chairman of Vijayawada Urban Development Authority, when the Inner-Ring Road project was conceived at a cost of Rs. 120 crore.
The flyover under question was part of that project.
On the doubts raised by a few political parties on the quality of the construction, Mr. Vishnu said that the quality was subjected not only to an internal assessment but also an external third part evaluation.
‘Action promised’ “If it is found that there was a collusion of interests among the parties, then the Minister has promised to take the necessary action. The project was conceived for the good of the people and we are fortunate that the incident did not happen when the workers were at work or after completion of the flyover. Life loss has been averted. But it was a lesson, and the authorities should now make sure that all safety norms and quality check are doubly taken care of,” he said.
Lashing out at the Opposition parties he said, “They claim that a few Congress MLAs were involved in the construction of the project and they had turned a blind eye to the poor quality. It is nothing but statements made out of frustration to gain political mileage. Let them just not talk, but prove the statements made.”
