Aurangabad, Jan 6:
The union minister of state for finance Dr Bhagwat Karad inspected the cracks on the Kranti Chowk flyover and ascertained whether the bridge was dangerous to traffic. Engineers from NHAI, municipal corporation, PWD and MSRDC informed the minister that cracks were visible due to rubber sliding off the gap in the bridge. However, according to experts, the crack is more in some places and less in others. The exact reason will come to the fore only after the structural audit.
After the inspection, a meeting was held at Dr Karad's office. The meeting was attended by NHAI project director Arvind Kale, public works department executive engineer PR Sonawane, municipal engineer SD Panjhade, MSRDC chief engineer BP Salunkhe, Surekh Abhang, PWD executive engineer Ashok Yerekar were present. In the meeting, the MSRDC officials said that the only job of the MSRDC is to build and transfer bridges. The maintenance and repair of the bridges should now be done by the municipal corporation or PWD. The NHAI officials raised their hands stating that the bridge is not in their jurisdiction. The municipal officials said that the NHAI is working on Jalna road. MSRDC should transfer the flyover through a full legal process.
The minister said
The responsibility of flyovers should be taken by the corporation or PWD, said Dr Karad. MSRDC should prepare a list of all bridges that have been constructed.