In Hatkeswar Bridge, the middle section will be demolished first, all costs will be recovered from the contractor company Ajay Engineering. In Hatkeswar Bridge, the middle section will be demolished first, all expenses will be recovered from the contractor company Ajay Engineering.

A report was given by IIT Roodkee and an expert committee on the controversial Hatkeshwar Bridge in Ahmedabad. After the report of low quality construction in this bridge, Mun. Commissioner M. The demolition of the bridge was undertaken by Thennaresan. Hatkeswar Bridge will be demolished in phases. In the primary phase the main mandatory span (middle defective section) will be demolished first.

After this part is broken, others will be done. The bridge has to be constructed by the contractor Ajay Engineering Infrastructure Pvt Ltd at his own cost and risk as per the terms of the old tender. A decision to blacklist contractor Ajay Engineering Infrastructure Pvt Ltd and management consultant company SGS India Pvt Ltd for life or for 10 years will be taken in a standing committee meeting on Thursday.

From the year 2021 to August 2022, various laboratories were conducted to check the Hatkeswar Bridge due to gaps at different times. An expert consultant in the matter of bridge was also examined about the bridge. Consultant fee for bridge report and investigation, fee for xerox given at police station in connection with police complaint, other technical and miscellaneous charges are also to be paid by the contractor. After demolishing the Hatkeswar Bridge, when it is rebuilt again, from design to proof checking, all the technical and non-technical matters including the payment will have to be done by the contractor Ajay Engineering Limited.

The Road and Bridge Project Department has put forward a proposal for the demolition of the Hatkeswar Bridge to build a new one and charge it with all kinds of work. Which will be decided by the BJP officials in the standing committee on Thursday. If these proposals are approved by the Standing Committee, all costs will be recovered from Engineering Infrastructure Pvt Ltd and the new bridge will be constructed at its cost and risk. For which, questions are being raised as to whether the work of demolishing this bridge and building a new one will be done by the contractor company.

After the report of the expert committee, it was decided to demolish the bridge
It was officially announced by the Municipal Commissioner on 15 April 2023 that the decision to demolish the Hatkeshwar Bridge was taken following an expert committee’s report of shoddy construction. A complaint was lodged at Khokhara police station by the corporation officials against the directors and officers of the contractor Ajay Engineering Infrastructure Pvt Ltd and the directors and officers of SGS India Pvt Ltd who conducted the third party inspection.

The report commissioned by the expert committee constituted by the municipal commissioner clearly stated that no load test was done by the contractor Ajay Engineering Infrastructure Pvt Ltd and the management consultant company SGS India Pvt Ltd before commissioning the bridge. Moreover, the concrete cube has to be tested, it has not been subjected to any kind of test. So it is clearly seen that Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation was betrayed in this matter.

Use of low volume concrete instead of M45 quality concrete
Hatkeshwar Bridge was visited by the Export Committee between March 25 and 27 and their observation and inspection report after that visit stated that the quality of concrete was poor. Questions were raised about the quality of the IIT Roodkee report as well. During the tests conducted by various agencies, it was found that there was evidence of low quantity of concrete being used instead of M45 quality concrete, making the Hatkeshwar Bridge unsafe for public and vehicular traffic.

Names of the accused