Technical failure, not human error, caused mishap

More than a month after about 100 tonnes of concrete came crashing down from the under-construction Eastern Freeway near Wadala - killing one person and injuring six others - independent experts probing the episode have submitted the interim inquiry report to Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA).

Rough and tumble:u00a0Around 9 pm on July 19, a portion of the under-construction Eastern Freeway collapsed near Anik-Panjarpol Link Road, Wadala. File pic

The study states the reason for the accident was technical failure and not human error. Confirming the same, MMRDA commissioner Rahul Asthana said, "The interim report on the Eastern Freeway submitted to us by the experts states that the cause behind the disaster was technical and not a human error on part of the contractor."

"The jack on which the girder supports are launched developed technical problems while the process was on following which the accident took place," said another MMRDA official.

The three-member committee formed by MMRDA includes professor of civil engineering department from Indian Institute of Technology Rajiv Sinha, chief engineer from Public Works Department SD Tamsekar and MMRDA's chief of transport and communication PRK Murthy.

The interim report was tendered a few days ago and the final version would be submitted on August 31.u00a0

Building bridges
The Eastern Freeway aims at connecting Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya in South Mumbai to Eastern Express Highway. It is 16.8-km long and estimated cost is Rs 888 crore. The freeway will drastically reduce travel time between South Mumbai and eastern suburbs, and will also help ease traffic movement towards Navi Mumbai, Pune, Thane and Nashik..