A section of the under-construction flyover in Gurugram’s Sohna Road collapsed on Saturday night. The incident occurred at 9.47 pm when three girders installed recently between two pillars came crashing down in front of Vipul Greens condominium. At least two people have been injured in the incident.
The police confirmed that two labourers were injured but a serious accident was averted as it was night time and traffic volume was low since markets and offices were closed on Saturday as part of the weekend restrictions enforced by the state government to curb the spread of Covid-19.
Aman Yadav, assistant commissioner of police (Sadar), said they received information within few minutes of the collapse and a patrolling car and along with riders reached the spot in five minutes. No casualty was reported. “Two labourers at the site have suffered minor injuries,” he said.
The 21.66 km-long Sohna road project is being constructed in two packages. The first part comprises an underpass and an elevated road from Subash Chowk towards Badshahpur covering 6 km. The section that collapsed was a part of the first package.
The second part comprises the expansion of 12.72-km road from Badshahpur to Sohna and involves construction of flyovers and underpasses at major crossings to ensure smooth movement of vehicles on the entire stretch. The deadline for both these projects is July, 2021.
National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) officials confirmed the collapse and said that a team reached the spot to assess the situation. The area has been sealed off.
Ashok Sharma, project director, NHAI said, “We sent a team of officials immediately to.the spot after the incident. No work was going on today and the area was secure and barricaded. Normally such incidents don’t happen and there must be a technical reason which caused this. The technical.team will probe it. ”
A senior official from Oriental Engineering, the contractor on condition of anonymity said it primarily appears that stressing wire which bears the load of the girders had some problem. “The real reason for this collapse will need a structural probe,” he added.
Locals said they heard a loud bang at around 9.50 pm and rushed outside.
Sarika Jindal, who lives in Tower 7 of Vipul Greens, which is adjacent to Sohna Road said she heard a loud noise and felt it was a major earthquake. Her family came down and saw that the elevated road had collapsed. “My children got so scared and asked us to vacate the building and go down. It was scary,” she said.
Puneet Ambwani, another resident of Vipul Greens, said it was around 9.47 pm when he thought it was an earthquake. “Our furniture literally shook for a few seconds,” he mentioned.
Haryana deputy chief minister Dushyant Chautala tweeted that the injured have been admitted and are undergoing treatment. NHAI team, SDM, and civil defense team are at site, he added.
