Stormwater pipe on Panipat flyover comes down crashing on vehicles

Mukesh Tandon

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Panipat, May 27

As many as six four-wheelers and a motorcycle were damaged while a few people sustained serious injuries when a 350-m stormwater drainage pipe of the elevated highway in Panipat came crashing down on vehicles plying on the NH-44 on the Panipat-Delhi side today. The traffic flow was disrupted for over two hours. A long traffic jam was witnessed on the highway after the incident.

Traffic disrupted for 2 hours

The stormwater pipe of the elevated highway was attached with iron clips. A piece of the drain pipe, around 350 m long, fell from a height of about 30 feet on vehicles near Sanjay Chowk in the city, disrupting the traffic flow for over two hours.

5-member panel formed, structural audit likely

• Additional Deputy Commissioner Pankaj Yadav said a magisterial inquiry had been ordered, for which a five-member committee had been formed. The committee was told to file its report within a month.
• The committee will be headed by SDM Mandeep Kumar. The Secretary, RTA; DSP, City; XEn, PWD B&R; and Chirag Mittal, manager (technical), NHAI, are other members.
• Compensation would be decided on the basis of the panel’s report. A structural audit would also be conducted, he said. If needed, the pipes would be changed, he said.

On getting information regarding this, a police team reached the spot and got the pipe and damaged vehicles removed from the spot with the help of a crane. Panipat Urban MLA Pramod Vij, ADC Dr Pankaj Yadav and SDM Mandeep Kumar, too, reached the spot to take stock of the situation.

As per information, the storm water pipe of the elevated highway was attached with it with iron clips. A piece of the drain pipe, around 350 m long fell from a height of around 30 feet on vehicles near Sanjay Chowk. A total of six cars and a bike got damaged. Two cars out of these were badly damaged and people inside these vehicles got injured. However, the passersby immediately helped the people who were stuck in their vehicles but the pipe was too heavy to be moved as it was filled with sludge.

Many people gathered in the area and alleged that the flyover was being maintained by a private company, L&T, for the last 16 years but the pipe was never cleaned by the company, due to which it got very heavy. People demanded strict action against company officials responsible for the incident.

Shiv Kumar, the driver of a cash van, which was damaged in the incident, said the pipe first hit his van which slowed down the falling of the rest of the chunk, otherwise the incident could have been more dangerous.

Gaurav Leekha, a social activist, said that L&T had never cleaned the drainage pipe since the flyover was constructed due to which it had got very heavy and today it came crashing down.

The chunk of pipe that fell down was only 350 m but the incident left about 2-km-long pipe under the elevated highway damaged at various places. “During rains, water leaked from this pipe and fell on the NH-44. In today’s incident, a finger of a bike rider was amputated due to this incident. Besides, two others sustained injuries,” he said.

BJP MLA Pramod Vij reached the spot and said that it was a very unfortunate incident. “It was a long pipe and there was no mechanism for the cleaning of this pipe,” the MLA said.

“I have asked the district administration to hold an inquiry and initiate action against those who are responsible for this incident,” he said.