Aaditya demands Chahal’s suspension, probe into Gokhale bridge mess

Mumbai: Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray has written to governor Ramesh Bais, demanding suspension of Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) commissioner I S Chahal and railway officers responsible for the height mismatch between the recently reopened Gokhale bridge in Andheri and the connecting Barfiwala flyover. Thackeray has also demanded a fair probe against Chahal and other officers involved in the construction of the bridge.
HT was the first to report about the height difference between the two flyovers owing to the railways’ requirement for increased height for the Gokhale bridge.
“You are well aware that the Gokhale Bridge reconstruction by the BMC and the Indian Railways is a national shame. The news of this failure has travelled globally. Yet, both the agencies are carrying on with the blame game. I hereby humbly request you to issue suspension orders for the municipal commissioner IS Chahal and the equivalent officer for the Railways in the said project, so that they face a fair inquiry for not just botching up this project, but also wasting crores of taxpayer money shamelessly,” Thackeray stated in the letter.
He pointed out that though Chahal’s transfer was long overdue and despite the Election Commission’s orders, chief minister Eknath Shinde had not replaced him. “The Gokhale bridge is a prime example of the politician-officer-contractor nexus. The local MLA visited the bridge multiple times along with officers. Did they not see the fault during these visits, or was it on purpose that the fault was created, so that now the other bridge can be broken and reconstructed,” he remarked in the letter.