Experts expressing concern at collapse of foot overbridge near Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT) railway station in Mumbai have termed the technical dishonesty on part of the concerned officials of BMC as worst than terrorism .
“While we spend so much time criticising terrorism, why such failures are not treated in same manner. When will the government become serious about punishing dishonest public servants who do not follow policy guidelines and take technically incorrect decisions citing lack of funds as a reason.” Said angry Mr Yatinder Pal Singh Suri, Chairman Process Plant and Machinery Association of India .(PPMAI), the apex body of capital goods manufacturers in the country and Managing Director, Outokumpu India
“AS Mumbai is a coastal area and prone to Corrosion, various experts have stressed on the need of use of corrosion resistant sustainable materials including Stainless steel reinforcement while constructing bridges and infrastructure in coastal areas including Mumbai.” Said Mr Suri
“Corrosion mitigation is a national mission with full support from our Prime Minister which is amply demonstrated through his slogan of Zero Effect and Zero Defect. Sincere efforts of steel ministry to introduce life cycle cost aspects with use of sustainable materials in construction in government projects which led to amendments in General Finance Rules 2017 which mandates use of sustainable products in our project tenders.” Said Mr Suri, ,who has been former President, IIT Kharagpur Alumni Association
“Therefore the technical teams in Highways and Railways must abandon their preference for commercial considerations which generally means compromising on technical grounds. The selection of the right stainless steel materials will eliminate corrosion in a given corrosive environment. The new BIS code also mandates selection on the basis of corrosive levels of the operating environment. ” said Mr Suri
“We must learn lessons from developed nations to ensure human safety and provide robust and corrosion free solutions in infrastructure to our countrymen. Tragedy like yesterday would have been averted if Stainless Steel structural products would have been used in the bridge, which crosses rail line and busy roads .”Added Mr Suri
“Countries including USA, New Zealand, Australia and UAE have made it mandatory to use stainless steel reinforcement in coastal areas for marine structures including bridges. Stainless steel reinforcement re-bars are emerging as an excellent sustainable solution for the concrete bridges in coastal and hill areas. The stainless steel reinforcing bars provide long life into concrete structures especially in the hills, coastal areas, ports, airports, bridges, high rise buildings and water treatment plants as these bars do not ever corrode and thus concrete failure due to spalling is avoided.” Said Mr Yatinder Pal Singh Suri,
“The other benefits of stainless steel reinforcement include significant increase in durability and reduction in repair and maintenance costs, elimination of concrete sealants and reduction in thickness of the concrete cover “he added.
“After the release of BIS code for stainless steel reinforcing bars , Indian Railways has mandated use of ferritic grades of stainless steel in coastal areas for concrete as well as structural bridges due to commercial considerations. Technically , stainless metallurgy dictates that ferritic grades are superior to carbon steel but they will also corrode early in Indian coastal conditions as compared to high end metallurgy Duplex grades . To avoid corrosion failures and such mishaps in future which lead to fatalities and disruption in normal life, the concerned ministries must use the right stainless steel materials like Duplex.” he added
