The RTI also found that the Railways spent Rs 3.37 crore for the ‘Safety Audit’.
More than a month after the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT) ‘Himalaya’ Foot-over-Bridge (FOB) collapsed, there was widespread anger amongst citizens on the status of several old bridges in the city.
Every year, the Central Railway (CR) gets all the FOB's and Rail-over-bridges (ROB) passing over its tracks an audit for safety prior to monsoons and after the monsoon ends.
This year too, the CR had commissioned an audit of the same with the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay, the report of which is still awaited.
This information was revealed in a Right to Information (RTI) reply provided by the CR to RTI activist Anil Galgali. The reply also stated that the CR has incurred an expense of Rs 3.37 crore for the safety audit for the same.
Galgali had sought information about the safety audit of all the FOB's and ROB's on its route and in the Mumbai division. The Bridges department of the Central Railway, informed Galgali that the work of safety audit of all the FOB's and ROB's is not given to baby external agencies. The ‘Safety’ audit and work on other information is conducted by different engineers as per the responsibility delegated to them every year, prior to monsoons as well as after the monsoon ends.
“In the period of August 2018 to March 2019, around 191 FOB's and 89 ROB's safety audit was done by IIT Bombay, the report of which is still awaited. An expense of Rs. 3,37,00,800 has been fixed and an advance of 50 percent amounting to Rs. 1,68,50,400 has been paid – the report has still not been made available to the CR,” the reply said.
Speaking to the ADC, Galgali expressed his displeasure on the delay of the said report. “Since the FOB's and ROB's are 280, the IIT Bombay should do the safety audit and phase wise issue the said reports. Looking at the safety of the commuters, the audit though conducted and expense is incurred, in the absence of the report no remedy can be taken up,” Galgali said.
In a letter addressed to Railway Minister Piyush Goyal, Galgali has demanded that the safety audit report should be made available online for the general public.