December 01, 2007	Saturday	Ziqa’ad 20, 1428

ISLAMABAD, Nov 30: The inquiry report into Karachi’s Northern bypass bridge collapse has not been finalised even after a passage of three months. The bridge, constructed by the National Logistics Cell, collapsed on Sept 1 three weeks after its inauguration.

Former prime minister Shau-kat Aziz had ordered the Nation-al Disaster Management Autho-rity to carry out the investigation. The National Highway Authority had also planned to hold its own inquiry, but the idea was allegedly shot down by NDMA chairman Lt-Gen Farooq Ahmed. The NHA had reportedly said that it had opened the bridge to traffic only after having been fully satisfied about its firmness and strength.

The bridge had been completed about two years back, but it was redesigned on the recommendations of foreign experts (Engineering Consultants Inter-national), hired after a fault occurred in its design. Then the bridge was opened to traffic on an experimental basis, kept under observation and formally inaugurated on Aug 6. According to the preliminary investigation conducted by the NHA, the bridge collapsed after one of its pillars got displaced. The 1.2km bridge is part of the 57km Northern Bypass.

An NHA official told Dawn that the investigation was being carried out by the NDMA and the authority had nothing to do with it.