The Vivekananda flyover which has been under construction since more than 7 years collapsed killing 14 people and injuring many more seriously. As is expected blame game has begun between various political parties with Mamata Banerjee blaming the previous government an so on...However, it is always the common people who suffer the most when such tragedies occur, also could have been easily averted with some care by the authorities concerned
I saw the news just some time back, it is indeed to sad and tragic that it is the common people who have to die for the blame game and greedy designs of the politicians every where. Does it even take so long to build anything? how such projects get dragged on and on for so many years, in the end they do not even guarantee safety and security or even utility for the people for whom such projects are undertaken. Rather like a contraption designed to kill commoners 
I remember I was posted at Calcutta Advanced HQ, Eastern Air Command. I had observed then the complete apathy of the government and the Marxist cadre to do any worthwhile work. the people also tolerted this. That is the reson that the flyover was under construction for 7 years. This itself needs a probe. The fact is why should a flyover go on for 7 years. I doubt anything will come out of any probe and after a few weeks it will be back to business as usual. Life in india is cheap. Who will bring in the concept of hard work?
Presently, it says 18 people are dead and suspecting that the number will further increase. Now, army is in action but see the politicians, they are busy in blame game. After I learnt about this sad news my first reaction was to contact my family members and know their whereabouts.
The most insensitive comment came from the builders side where they called it an act of God. In fact IVCRL of Hyderabad which is the construction company that had been given the contract has many top officials under the scanner...Honestly, the nexus between the politicians and the builders is dangerous to the entire society..
usha manohar wrote:The most insensitive comment came from the builders side where they called it an act of God. In fact IVCRL of Hyderabad which is the construction company that had been given the contract has many top officials under the scanner...Honestly, the nexus between the politicians and the builders is dangerous to the entire society..
Yes it is easy to blame God, because he never come to give clarification. Nexus among , politicians, builders and burocrates is not new thing. It is all game of commission.
It makes no sense to blame God for builder's fault. A bridge must be strong enough to work for about fifty years at least. There is no doubt that either negligence or corruption or both have caused the tragedy. I agree with Mamata Banerjee that previous govt. is responsible for the mishap. The bridge would have been constructed during previous govt's tenure. It is necessary to probe and take harsh measures and ensure that such mishaps don't recur.
Gulshan Kumar Ajmani wrote:It makes no sense to blame God for builder's fault. A bridge must be strong enough to work for about fifty years at least. There is no doubt that either negligence or corruption or both have caused the tragedy. I agree with Mamata Banerjee that previous govt. is responsible for the mishap. The bridge would have been constructed during previous govt's tenure. It is necessary to probe and take harsh measures and ensure that such mishaps don't recur.
What was Mamata Banerjee doing for the last five years? She blames the previous government and they accuse her which is quite natural. They are all responsible.
Shampa Sadhya wrote:Gulshan Kumar Ajmani wrote:It makes no sense to blame God for builder's fault. A bridge must be strong enough to work for about fifty years at least. There is no doubt that either negligence or corruption or both have caused the tragedy. I agree with Mamata Banerjee that previous govt. is responsible for the mishap. The bridge would have been constructed during previous govt's tenure. It is necessary to probe and take harsh measures and ensure that such mishaps don't recur.
What is Mamata Banerjee doing for the last five years? She blames the previous government and they accuse her which is quite natural. They are all responsible.
Mamata Banerjee may be responsible or even guilty of many things but the current disaster is clearly attributable to previous govt, during whose rule the bridge was constructed.
This has happened earlier too in a smaller scale. In 2013 a huge chunk of the Ultadanga flyover collapsed in Kolkata. The Vivekananda flyover has had a long and troubled History.Naturally Political leaders grab such an opportunity. The BJP said, Mamata Banerjee is responsible. Congress demands the resignation of Farhad Hakim. Mamata says that collapse happened during CPM time. Ultimate sufferer is the common man who unsuspectingly passes over the flyover and becomes a victim. I view this as a man made disaster. Our emergency response to a disaster can be more disastrous than the tragedy itself.
Who else is other than Mamata Banerjee responsible? The completion of thls ll-fated flyover missed 8 deadlines earlier and she rushed it with an eye on elections.If it missed as many deadlines the governments since Dr.B.C.Roy died failed 8 thousand times to give the hapless people even a semblance of a civilized government. A lot many tragedies are just waiting to happen!
@Gulshanji
The Act of God,force majeure are legal terms intended and used to limit liability in common law.Even God seems to have given up on West Bengal and its criminal leaders!!
chinmoymukherjee wrote:Who else is other than Mamata Banerjee responsible? The completion of thls ll-fated flyover missed 8 deadlines earlier and she rushed it with an eye on elections.If it missed as many deadlines the governments since Dr.B.C.Roy died failed 8 thousand times to give the hapless people even a semblance of a civilized government. A lot many tragedies are just waiting to happen!
@Gulshanji
The Act of God,force majeure are legal terms intended and used to limit liability in common law.Even God seems to have given up on West Bengal and its criminal leaders!!
It is really very sad to see such a once-prosperous state going to dogs in such a manner. I wonder when Mamata will stop beating her chest every time a disaster strikes and really get down to doing actual work, instead of yelling hoarse about how simple and honest she is every time. I am sure people don't want to see and hear her tantrums but want to see her doing actual work.
We make tall claims about becoming a superpower when we cannot even build a bridge that will last for a few years at least, most bridges falling down even before they finish construction. On the hand hand, the British who built bridges in the last century are still going strong. There is one particular bridge in Pune, which recently completed 100 years and exactly one month before that deadline, the Pune Municipal authorities received a letter from British authorities accompanied by the detailed plans of its construction. The letter, in essence, contained the original written guarantee from the engineer then stating the bridge would last for 100 years. The current British engineers suggested that since it was nearing 100 years of completion, the Pune Municipal engineers should thoroughly inspect the bridge and undertake repair and renovation works if needed. This is the level of honesty and excellent work that is missing in the Indians.
In fact the previous governments role is very little, to the extent that called the tenders and gave it to a construction company which was not very reliable one. But once Mamata took over a few of their projects came under the CBI scanner as early as 2011 when Mamata came to power. But she did nothing an now conveniently blames the previous government. No doubt their role in awarding the contract to a tainted company itself was wrong but after knowing the details to continue with them is worse, which is what Mamata Banerjee did..
During British days, Calcutta was known as the second city of the Raj after London, but after independence, first the Congress and then the Communists destroyed the city. Calcutta is now a faint ghost of what it was. The flyover taking 7 + years is nothing new. The tube took 20 years and is now in poor condition. Worse there is no expansion. My grandfather spent 40 years in Calcutta and built so many landmarks like the Lighthouse cinema. I have a house there ( inherited) at Bhowanipur. But the fact is until the people revolt against the apathy of the government nothing will happen. Mamata is no better than the left. What Calcutta needs is a spell of Martial Law.
Calcutta is still a very regal city with a glorious past ,,,it also speaks for poor leadership, as to how a great state can be reduced to what it is because of indifferent leaders.
As of now new theories are being floated by IVCRL , the construction company . Their lawyer in a news conference held in their head quarters i Hyderabad now claims that it could have been a bomb that was responsible , since glass pieces were found around the area ! I guess the truth will come out after the investigation but the IVCRL team is not sitting idle, doing their best to cover their tracks and record.
MG Singh wrote:During British days, Calcutta was known as the second city of the Raj after London, but after independence, first the Congress and then the Communists destroyed the city. Calcutta is now a faint ghost of what it was. The flyover taking 7 + years is nothing new. The tube took 20 years and is now in poor condition. Worse there is no expansion. My grandfather spent 40 years in Calcutta and built so many landmarks like the Lighthouse cinema. I have a house there ( inherited) at Bhowanipur. But the fact is until the people revolt against the apathy of the government nothing will happen. Mamata is no better than the left. What Calcutta needs is a spell of Martial Law.
Martial is not solution of any problem. Mamata may be honest politician but other members of her party is like other politicians. It is clear that in India no one join politics of service of nation and peoples. It is profession and they start investment in it from student life and when they come in power they recover it with interest.
Mamata Banerjee for some reason is able to withstand any kind of criticism and bad press even when her party has gone wrong badly on many issues and in all probability she and her party might get elected once again. She is an extremely shrewd politician ...However, through this incident one can see how callous she is as a leader going by the statements she has given, completely absolving herself of all responsibilities. Can one blame these politicians when people are ready to forgive them and put them back in power , again and again !
@kiran8