CSMT bridge collapse: Retired senior BMC engineer arrested, sent to police custody till 10 May

Mumbai: A retired senior Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation official was arrested in connection with the collapse of a bridge near CSMT railway terminus on 14 March which killed seven persons and injured over 30, police said Tuesday.[caption id="attachment_6269961" align="alignleft" width="380"] Six people died after a foot overbridge near the CSMT station in Mumbai collapsed. PTI[/caption]Shitalaprasad Kori (58), who was chief engineer (bridges) of the civic body when the incident happened, was arrested by Azad Maidan police and produced in court on Tuesday which remanded him in police custody till 10 May, an official said.Earlier, the police had arrested BMC assistant engineer SF Kakulte and structural auditor Neeraj Desai in the case.A preliminary report into the collapse submitted by the BMC had said the structural audit of the foot overbridge was not carried out correctly. It suggested major lapses when the structural audit of the FOB was carried out on 13 August, 2018.Last month, the Bombay High Court had called the incident an ‘eye-opener’ and directed the BMC to formulate a new policy for the audit, repair and upkeep of rail and foot overbridges and to consider handing over the audit of some these structures with high footfalls to agencies like the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT).The high court also asked the civic body to strengthen criteria of awarding tenders to contractors. The court was hearing a plea that sought, among other things, that the BMC cancel all structural audit contracts given to the firm DD Desai, which had audited the foot overbridge that collapsed.