consulting firm of Kolkata. Potential causes Anandapran Gupta, former head of the department of civil engineering at IIT KGP stated that his investigating committee found defects in multiple aspects of the flyover construction including design, construction, raw materials and supervision. Biranchi Acharya, an experienced construction professional, claimed that the main cause was the failure of a pier cap which brought down two spans supported over it. Some flaws either in joints of pier cap or unwanted eccentric loading may have been responsible. Reaction The Chief Minister of West Bengal, Mamata Banerjee, rushed to oversee the post-crash relief and rescue operation, and made a statement accusing the previous left-wing government for the disaster. The previous state government, headed by the Communist Party of India (M), stated that the portion of the flyover that collapsed was built during the current government's tenure. Minister of State for Urban Development, Babul Supriyo, remarked that the construction work of the flyover was carried on in an unscientific manner and "the state administration did not take any lesson even after the collapse of Ultadanga flyover three years ago". The legal advisor to IVRCL, Sheela Peddinti, said "The glass was shattered. It could have been a blast." The vice-president of the Indian National Congress, Rahul Gandhi, visited the injured and the site of the accident. He refused to make any political statements. Later, he incidentally raised the issue at rallies and accused the ruling party, Trinamool Congress of negligence. See also 2018 Kolkata bridge collapse 2014 Surat Flyover collapse during Construction 2010 Commonwealth Games footbridge collapse in Delhi References 2016 disasters in India Bridge disasters in India 2016 road incidents 2010s in Kolkata Disasters in West Bengal Construction accidents March 2016 events in India