Can an over-bridge with a completion period of 18 months be completed in two and half days? Even a layman could arrive at the conclusion that such a feat would be impossible and the overbridge would be incomplete. That is exactly what has happened at Thane Kopri bridge.

The Central Railway officials are blaming the Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC) for the mishap and the delay, but as per their own admission they have allotted 56 blocks for carrying out the work. This revelation is part of a letter sent by officer on special duty Ved Prakash to TMC commissioner in August. Each block allotted by the railways is exactly one hour, starting from 1.40 am to 2.40 am. At this rate, the total number of hours allotted by the railway under block period works out to be 56, a little more than two and half days — and that too, spread over eight years. During the one-hour blocks that were allotted, the actual working time was further less owing to the time consumed in preparation.

The co-operation of the railways in the construction of the bridge could be judged by the fact that the first girder was launched in 2006, four years after the project was initiated in 2002. To expedite the work within the safety standards, then divisional engineer NM Patil had given permission to carry out the work during day time in non-block hours and had categorically prohibited work during night hours. “Most of the work was done during that period. Patil reasoned that working during night hours was dangerous owing to lack of light and sleep. Unfortunately, after Patil was transferred, the order to work during day time was revoked,” said executive engineer Pravin Phapalkar.