Two IIT Roorkee Professors arrested for collapse of bridge in Tehri

New Delhi: In 2012, an under-construction bridge that was being built over River Alaknanda at Chauras in Tehri district collapsed. 8 people were killed in the incident – including a Junior Engineer. The design of the bridge had been prepared by the two IIT Roorkee professors.

Owners of the two construction companies involved in building the bridge had been arrested on September 3, 2015. IIT-R professors Vipul Prakash and Vijay Kumar Gupta had also been summoned to the court but failed to appear as instructed. Hence, a non-bailable warrant (NBW) was issued against them and they were arrested from the Civil Engineering Department of the institute where they work.

Mamta Bohra, the police official investigating the case, said, “Both the accused had been produced before the court on September 8 and the police sought their remand to investigate their  role in the case.”

Earlier, the state government had suspended a PWD (Public Works Department) engineer when the bridge collapsed. Later, a case was registered against the Hillways Constructions and Devbhoomi Builders, PWD Pauri Garhwal and Madhwa Hitech Engineering Pvt Ltd at the Kirtinagar police station under Section 304 of IPC. Another bridge at Devprayag in Pauri district, which was designed by IIT Roorkee, had also collapsed in a storm in 1991 just a few days before its completion.