Thiruvananthapuram: Uralungal Labour Contract Co-operative Society (ULCCS), which is the contracting agency, has to bear the loss incurred due to the collapse of three concrete beams of the bridge that is under construction across River Chaliyar at Koolimadu, said the Kerala Public Works Department.
The action is based on the inquiry report submitted by the PWD Vigilance finding fault with the contracting agency and two PWD engineers. Action will also be initiated against the two PWD engineers.
The three beams of the Koolimadu bridge, connecting Malappuram and Kozhikode districts, collapsed while under construction in the morning on May 16, 2022. The accident happened when 90 per cent of work on the 309-metre-long and 10 metre-wide bridge was complete.
The Vigilance has found that mechanical failure led to the collapse. The final report submitted by the Vigilance includes a technical report and specifically mentions that the company should be given strict direction to avoid any such incidents in future. The report also states highly skilled labourers were supervising the work.
All security measures should be ensured before restarting the work.
PWD Minister P A Mohammed Riyas has entrusted the PWD secretary to initiate disciplinary action against the PWD Executive Engineer and Assistant Engineer.
Earlier, the PWD Minister had returned the inquiry report from the Vigilance seeking more clarity on it as it had stated that the accident could be either due to human error or a mechanical snag of the hydraulic jacks.
The Minister sought to find out what exactly caused the accident. Also, if it was human error, the Minister had directed to inquire whether there were enough skilled labourers involved in the work.
The beam slanted and collapsed due to the failure of one of the hydraulic jacks while the precast concrete beams were being lowered to be fixed onto the pillars. Of the three huge beams, each 35 m long, one fell and got immersed completely in the river while the other two got partially immersed. One person was injured.
ULCCS is the contracting agency for the construction work which began on 2019 March 7. The aim was to complete the work in 24 months at an outlay of Rs 25 crore.
