Railways unable to carry out maintenance work of ROBs: Mamata

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday blamed the railways for its failure to carry out maintenance work of Road Over Bridges (ROBs) in the city.

Banerjee said the state government and the railways should enter into an agreement for better coordination over ROBs.

"There should be a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the state and the railways to properly coordinate ROB-related work to avoid any untoward incident," she told reporters here.

"It's clear that the railways is unable to execute maintenance activities of the bridges... from the collapse of the under-construction shed in Shalimar (station)," she added.

A worker died and four others were injured when an under-construction shed collapsed at Shalimar railway station in Howrah district on Monday.

The chief minister said as per rule, the responsibility to maintain roads lies with the public works department (PWD), while that of ROBs is with the railways.

A PWD department source said that an MoU is likely be signed between the state government and the railways in this connection on October 25.

The chief minister also pointed out to an audit carried out by the West Bengal government on bridges, which has found that several of them were in a critical state.

On the arterial Tallah Bridge in the city, which is closed for heavy vehicles at present, she said an expert will be consulted to inspect it and a meeting in this regard will be held on October 12.

The bridge was recently declared "most vulnerable" in a study of its health conducted by engineering consultancy company RITES.

"Only light vehicles below 3 tonnes and pedestrians will be allowed on the Tallah Bridge," Banerjee said.

The CM expressed hope that construction work at Majerhat Bridge, a portion of which had collapsed in September last year, will be completed by December.