To probe bridge incident Railway ministry forms high-level panel

AIZAWL: The union railway ministry has formed a high-level committee to probe the unfortunate Mizoram bridge collapse incident.

At least 23 people – all construction workers – died after an under-construction railway bridge collapsed at Sairang near Aizawl in Mizoram on August 23.

The high-level probe committee to investigate the Mizoram bridge collapse incident was formed by the union railway ministry.

The high-level probe committee will be headed by BP Awasthi, PED-II, RDSO.

The three other members are: Dr Dipti Ranjan Sahoo – associate dean and professor of structural engineering at IIT-Delhi, Sharad Kumar Agarwal – professor of bridges at IRICEN and Sandeep Sharma – chief bridge engineer at Northeast Frontier (NF) Railway.

The high-level probe committee has been asked to submit its report of findings within one month.

Earlier, the central committee of Young Mizo Association or Central YMA had demanded a probe into the collapse of an under-construction railway bridge at Sairang near Aizawl in Mizoram.

The central YMA also urged ABCI and Silchar-based BBJ companies, which executed the construction of the bridge, to provide ex-gratia to the victims.

The Railways said the accident was due to the collapse of a gantry, which was being launched on the under-construction bridge over Kurung river in Mizoram.

The victims of the Mizoram bridge collapse incident were residents of Malda district in West Bengal.