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Part of crane used for Male'-Thilamale' bridge fell into sea

Lamya Abdulla
07 December 2022, MVT 11:26
Photo taken on December 5, 2022, showing machinery used on the bridge building project -- Photo: Fayaz Moosa
Lamya Abdulla
07 December 2022, MVT 11:26

Part of the crane used in constructing the bridge between Male' and Thilamale' broke off and fell into the Vilimale' sea on Monday.

An official working on the project on behalf of the Ministry for National Planning, Housing, and Infrastructure told Mihaaru that it was a part of the crane called "boom" that had fallen into the sea.

They said they were now working to figure out why it had detached and fallen, and also to remove it from the sea.

Official investigations into this case are currently underway.

The official said that although a part had fallen off, it will not disrupt their productivity, and with backup plans in place, work will go forward.

Earlier this year on August 16, a platform used to conduct the geo-technical survey prior to starting the practical work of bridge construction ran aground to the Villimale reef. However, India's Afcons company, which is carrying out this project took 12 days to remove the platform from the reef.

Even though the company has been fined MVR 69 million over damages caused to the reef, they have not paid this fine yet.

The Ministry for Environment and Energy had received a lot of criticism from environmental organizations over the delay in taking action against Afcons. The fine was imposed three months after the incident had taken place.

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) had allowed Afcons to their own survey when they did not accept the report sent by the agency.

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