Girder falls down from under-construction Srinagar flyover as quake jolts Kashmir

Srinagar: A girder from the under-construction Srinagar flyover came down crashing on a crane beneath it on Wednesday after an earthquake jolted Jammu and Kashmir. However, there was no report of any injuries.Meanwhile construction company undertaking the work on the fly over has issued a statement about the cause of the fall of the girder of the fly over.
An eye witness said that the girder placed on the pillars last night came down as the earthquake struck Wednesday.
However, Director ERA Kashmir Satish Razdan said the incident took place during the installation of the girder.
“A girder was being lifted by crane to be placed upon the pillars and it might be due to the shaking of the earth due to earthquake that crane got imbalanced and girder fell on the crane,” he said.
He termed as wrong the reports that the girder fell from the top of pillars due to earthquake.
“We are looking into the matter and will share the details as they emerge,” he said.
An earthquake of 6.1 magnitude jolted Jammu and Kashmir, forcing people to rush out of their homes.
According to the United States Geological Survey (USGS), the quake having epicenter 35 km south of Jarm in Afghanistan jolted parts of Pakistan and north India at 12:37 pm Indian time.
MeanwhileGKW Consult GmbH, the construction company which is involved in the construction of Srinagar flyover, on Wednesday issued a statement about the cause of the fall of girder from the under-construction flyover after an earthquake jolted Jammu and Kashmir.
In the statement, the construction agency said: “Two number girders were erected during the night of Jan 30 and 31 after getting the power shedding from PDD. During the day while strengthening of the girders on the piers was going on and two of the girders had been tied and strengthening process completed, and earthquake shook Srinagar city and the third girder was in the process of permanent strengthening fell down from the pier.” “There was no loss of life nor was there any injury to any one working there,” it added.
Hitting out at the government over the incident, former chief minister Omar Abdullah said, “I hope that in the Govt’s misplaced drive to complete a section of it before a self appointed deadline safety and quality aren’t being compromised.”