On 31 March 2016, part of the under-constructionVivekananda flyover in the Girish Park neighbourhood of Kolkata,India, collapsed. Twenty seven people were dead and more than 80 were injured in the incident.
The construction for the 2.2-kilometre (1.4 mi) Vivekananda flyover was contracted in 2008 and the work began in 2009.IVRCL, a construction firm based in Hyderabad, won the bid for the project. The construction was scheduled to be completed in 2010 but overshot the deadline multiple times. The company was given an 18-month deadline by Chief Minister of West Bengal,Mamata Banerjeeto complete the flyover by February 2016 and allocated a budget of nearly ₹165 crore(US$25 million) but only about 60 percent of the work was completed.
As of March 2015, IVRCL had a debt of₹4,055 crore(US$600 million) and reported losses of ₹672 crore(US$100 million).In December 2015, a consortium of banks that had lent to the companytook over and the company had been banned from doing business in Uttar Pradesh and several other states.
The Chief Minister of West Bengal, Mamata Banerjee, rushed to over see the post-crash relief and rescue operation, and made a statement blaming the previous left-wing government for the disaster.
The previous state government, headed by theCPI(M), alleged that the portion of the flyover that collapsed was built during the current Government's tenure.
Minister of State for Urban Development,Babul Supriyore marked that the construction work of the flyover was carried on in an unscientific manner and "the state administration did not take any lesson even after the collapse of Ultadanga flyover three years ago".The legal advisor to IVRCL, Sheela Peddinti said, "The glass was shattered. It could have been a blast.
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