Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde has said a time-bound inquiry will be conducted to find out how the 700 tonne girder launder collapsed during the construction of a viaduct for the Samruddhi Expressway in Thane district early today.
 
Speaking to reporters after visiting the accident site this evening, Mr. Shinde informed that 20 people have lost their lives while three have been injured. He added that five others were safely evacuated during the rescue operation conducted jointly by the teams of NDRF and TDRF.  The Chief Minister said a FIR has been registered at Shahpur police station and a thorough investigation will reveal whether it was a technical error or negligence that led to this tragedy.
 
Mr. Shinde said Prime Minister Narendra Modi has also expressed grief and announced an ex-gratia of two lakh rupees for the next of kin of each deceased and fifty thousand for those injured. The state government has also announced a financial assistance of five lakh rupees for the families of the deceased.
 
The 2.28 km-long viaduct is being constructed by Navayuga Engineering and  VSL India Private Limited. Both the companies have also announced an ex-gratia of five lakhs each for the families of the deceased.
 
According to an official statement from the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation Limited, a special-purpose “mobile gantry crane” used in bridge construction and to install precast box girders in highway construction projects collapsed while being shifted between pier numbers 15 and 16 of the viaduct. It added that out of a total of 114 segments, 98 were successfully constructed using the same launcher.