By the Editor: Siddharth Sehgal

You can commit a murder and then take a dip in Ganges to wash away your deed but would it actually wash away the sin. What happened in Kolkata is not an act of god as the IVRCL spokes person said to media, it was an atrocity, a genocide of corruption, negligence and stupidity.

One thing really surprises me is the level of incompetency displayed by Mamta Banerjee government, its not that they are the first corrupt government in history but their mistakes are paid by people’s lives. There is no law and order in the state, the border with Bangladesh is rife with smuggling of drugs, arms, fake currency and extremism under the wings of Mamta government. Their party workers are involved in every scam and pilfering of state funds that you can imagine. But the bridge that collapsed in Kolkatta must be the waking point for the public. From the pictures of the accident and the site, even a layman who has no knowledge of construction or civil engineering can point out a blatantly obvious fact that it’s not a good idea to make a flyover at such a congested place.

When a public project is undertaken anywhere, the paramount factor is safety. Engineers would survey the every nook and corner of the land that will be used, the soil component, environment factor like humidity, how much weight the structure can tolerate, logistics, maintenance, labor cost but above all if the end result would be able to withstand the test of time. In Kolkata’s Vivekananda road flyover case people living there made their fears known to authorities, the company IVRCL was already behind schedule and in deep financial trouble over their debts with the banks. The company in a rush to complete things definitely might have cut corners on construction material and safety which resulted in loss of 28 lives which I believe is a suppressed government figure of the actual toll of the tragedy. If you want to construct your own house you won’t get a clearance from your local PWD without putting some weight of cash on your file. Imagine, the amount of graft that goes on in giving out tenders and contacts of public bridges, roads or dams.

 I squarely put blame on Trinamool government for this loss of public lives and property.  This corruption is the reason why companies like IVRCL make houses that you and I live in, this is why the Trinamool Congress leader’s son got away with killing an airman while driving under influence, this is why people like Warren Anderson and Vijay Mallya get to get away.