– KOLKATA
A
t least 18 people were
killed when a flyover
under construction
crashed in a crowded market
area here March 31, crushing
scores of unsuspecting people
and vehicles, police and wit-
nesses said.
West Bengal Chief Minister
Mamata Banerjee, who rushed
to Kolkata after cancelling elec-
tion rallies inWest Midnapore
district, said 70 others had been
injured in the ghastly disaster
which occurred around 12.30
p.m.
“So far 18 people have been
killed in this tragic incident. We
have been able to rescue over 70
people who were admitted to
various hospitals with injuries.
Most of them have been dis-
charged,” Banerjee, who went to
the crash site after reaching
Kolkata, said.
A National Disaster Response
Force (NDRF) official put the
number of injured at around
100.
Hundreds of locals were the
first to reach the site at Posta
area in the city’s northern part
to see how best they could res-
cue those buried under heaps of
debris before official rescue
workers and police joined them.
The army too deployed
dozens of medical teams and
engineers. Police and military
ambulances transporting the
badly injured as as well as near-
ly dying to hospitals.
The soldiers are using spe-
cialized equipment to rescue
those trapped under tonnes of
steel and concrete, a decence
ministry spokesman said.
Prime Minister Narendra
Modi expressed “shock” over the
tragedy. “My thoughts are with
the families of those who lost
their lives,” he tweeted. “May
the injured recover at the earli-
est.”
Home Minister Rajnath Singh
said he had spoken to NDRF
Director General O.P. Singh to
coordinate relief work.
A police officer at the site said
he saw 10 to 12 people being
taken out from the debris but
was not sure if they were alive.
The accident spot represent-
ed a horrific site. Body parts
were strewn in the debris. Blood
was splattered on the streets.
A video of the disaster
showed the Vivekananda
Flyover -- whose foundation
was laid in 2008 and where work
began in February 2009 -- sud-
denly crashing with a roar, giv-
ing no time for anyone under it
to escape.
“There was a sudden thun-
dering noise” as the flyover
crashed, a witness said. He said
he saw the flyover collapse over
taxis, auto-rickshaws and other
vehicles besides people who
were walking under it.
Among the vehicles which
were caught up in the disaster
were a mini bus, two taxis and
three auto-rickshaws.
“More than 100 people must
have been (buried) beneath it...
It is a huge loss,” the witness
said.
With the collapsed flyover
covering the entire road, rescue
operations were badly ham-
pered as cranes found it difficult
to reach the spot. Later, people
formed human chains to regu-
late the flow of soldiers.
The chief minister
announced a compensation of
Rs.5 lakh to the families of the
dead, Rs.2 lakh each for the crit-
ically injured and Rs.1 lakh for
those who suffered minor
injuries.
The long-delayed 2.5-km fly-
over was expected to tackle con-
gestion in Burra Bazar area - the
location of one of the largest
wholesale markets in Asia - up
to the Howrah station, the gate-
way to the city.
It was scheduled to be ready
in 2012 but land acquisition
issues delayed its completion.
The implementing agency too
ran into financial troubles.
The state government has
opened an Emergency
Operations Centre, which is
functioning at the state secre-
tariat. The contact number is
1070.
Another control room with
number 0332145326 has also
been opened.
Meanwhile, the Bharatiya
Janata Party (BJP) said the inci-
dent was a clear proof of cor-
ruption inWest Bengal.
BJP general secretary Kailash
Vijayavargiya said: “It’s an exam-
ple and proof of the corruption
by the Mamata government.
People of state will not forgive
her.”
– IANS
Kolkata Overpass Crash Kills At Least 18, Army Begins Rescue Work
News India Times
April 8, 2016
22
Community
– that’s all you need to know
– NEWDELHI
he United Nations is
risking its relevance in
the absence of a strong
and structured
response to terrorism,
Indian Prime Minister Narendra
Modi has warned.
In an address to Indian dias-
pora in BelgiumMarch 30 night,
Modi regretted that the world
had not come up with a propor-
tionate response to terror
despite the huge threat it posed
to humanity.
“The world has failed to
understand the threat of this
hideous monster,” he told the
euphoric Indian crowd at the
Brussels Expo here, finding fault
with countries which differenti-
ated between “good terrorism”
and “bad terrorism”.
Modi explained how India
had been battling terrorism for
the last 40 years. “When we
raised our concern, we were told
it is a mere law and order prob-
lem -- until 9/11 happened.
“And when the earth shook
beneath their feet, they began to
understand what terrorism is,”
he said, speaking days after ter-
ror attacks in the Belgian capital
killed more than 30 people,
including an Indian techie.
He, however, said that the
U.N .had not been able to fully
understand this “new challenge
of the new era”.
“The United Nations knows
everything about a war and how
to stop it. But if you ask about
terrorism, even the U.N. doesn’t
know. The world body of such a
grand stature has failed to per-
form its responsibility,” he said.
He said that India had been
requesting the U.N. for years to
come up with a resolution that
defines “who a terrorist is and
which country is a terrorist
nation”.
“I don’t know when this will
happen but the way situations
are changing, it won’t be too late
when this organization will
become irrelevant.”
He said India had never
bowed to terrorism and will
never do so and offered “deep-
est” condolences for the March
22 Brussels terror bombings.
He recalled the global Sufi
conference held recently in New
Delhi where scholars from the
Muslim world denounced ter-
rorism.
He said this approach was
essential to stop radicalization
and a right atmosphere had to
be created to end terror.
He said he had spoken to
many world leaders and
emphasized “the need to delink
religion from terror”.
“No religion teaches terror-
ism,” he said as he wound up
his busy Belgian trip. Modi has
left forWashington and will later
fly to Saudi Arabia.
– IANS
T
Modi Talks Tough On Terror, Says U.N. Risks Its Relevance
Telugu Mega Star Chiranjeevi’s Daughter Ties The Knot
Telugu superstar Chiranjeevi’s
second daughter Srija married
Kalyan, a non-resident Indian
businessman from Chittor,
March 28. Srija’s second
marriage, following divorce with
her husband from the first
marriage, was a star-studded
affair with a number of VIPs
attending the reception March
31, including Andhra Pradesh
Chief Minister Chandrababu
Naidu, seen in the photo, Union
Minister Venkaiah Naidu, AIMIM
chief Asaduddin Owaisi, M.P.
and governor of Andhra
Pradesh and Telangana, E.S.L.
Narasimhan.
Rescue operations underway at the site where a part of a portion of Vivekananda
Flyover collapsed in Kolkata on March 31.
Mohammed Jaffer / SnapsIndia
