Company blames state govt delay

Prasad Nichenametla, TT, Hyderabad, April 1:  The Hyderabad-based company building the flyover that collapsed in Calcutta yesterday has blamed the Bengal government for the delay in the project, which was to be completed in August 2010.

Construction firm IVRCL aired its defence today as a police team from Bengal, assisted by their Telangana counterparts, searched its office in upscale Banjara Hills and questioned its officials.

"We were awarded the project in 2009, to be executed in 18 months, but till date we have not received all the clearances," Panduranga Rao, company group head, human resources and administration, told The Telegraph .

He seemed to be referring to the Bengal government's failure to facilitate the completion of the construction through measures such as traffic diversion to clear the ground for the installation of piers.

"If they could not manage the clearances, why did they give the job to us? It's common sense that a contractor would like to finish his work at the earliest, take the money and exit," Rao said.

Officials in the Union urban development ministry, which had cleared the flyover project, said yesterday that the serial delays could have contributed to a weakening of the scaffolding and, therefore, to the collapse.

Rao, who was speaking over the phone, said he was in the middle of police questioning at his office here.

At a news conference in Hyderabad earlier today, Rao and company legal manager P. Sita had said the firm had not compromised with the quality of the material used, and that the cave-in had left them "extremely shocked" and clueless.

Sita referred to a newspaper report that quoted a victim comparing the flyover collapse to a bomb blast. Sita then seemed to hint at a sabotage or terror angle.

"I'm saying that there are various versions. We are ourselves very much anxious and curious to know what went wrong, how it happened," she told reporters.

"The 60th slab/pillar was constructed the same way as all those before it. Then how come all the 59 (others) are standing firmly?"

Rao said: "We will cooperate with the probe agencies. Let the investigation bring out the reasons, which we do not know. We are not thieves or murderers; we are engineers."

He explained his statement yesterday describing the cave-in as an "act of God": "What I meant was that some things are in no one's control."

Rao told this newspaper that the company had serious financial problems. He said he didn't know the exact figures but believed that "we have a debt of about Rs 4,000 crore".

"These fiscal troubles are not just for us - almost all infra companies in the country are passing through the same phase," he added.

The company, established in 1987 by Eragam Sudhir Reddy, recently decided to exit the road and infrastructure business and concentrate on irrigation projects.