Latest news with #AFCONS
Mint
10-06-2025
- Politics
- Mint
‘Please don't make me famous': Chenab Rail Bridge engineer Madhavi Latha says thousands deserve appreciation
Civil engineer Prof. G. Madhavi Latha, who played a key role in the design and construction of Chenab Rail Bridge, the world's highest railway bridge, has since received widespread praise. Following the inauguration by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, many people have contacted her, expressing their admiration and hope that their daughters can follow in her footsteps. But Latha insisted that thousands deserve appreciation for the Chenab bridge and said that her role as a geotechnical consultant to AFCONS was to help develop slope stabilisation schemes and design foundations on slopes. In a post on LinkedIn, Madhavi Latha wrote: 'Hearty Congratulations to India on the inauguration of Chenab Railway bridge by the honourable Prime Minister Narendra Modi ji. The bridge is a Civil Engineering marvel. All glory of the planning, design and construction goes to Indian Railways and AFCONS.' 'Thousands of people have significantly contributed in different ways to the construction of this iconic bridge. There are millions of unsung heroes to whom I salute today,' she added. Madhavi Latha further said: 'My role as a geotechnical consultant to AFCONS was to help in developing slope stabilization schemes and design of foundations on slope. All other media statements like "woman behind the mission", "made impossible possible" and "done miracles to build the bridge" are baseless. Many fathers have written to me saying that they want their daughters to become like me. Many young kids have written to me that they now want to take up Civil Engineering as their career choice. I am extremely happy about this. Thanks to all Indians who have poured congratulatory messages to me. Please remember that I am one of the thousands who deserve appreciation for the Chenab bridge.' 'Please don't make me unnecessarily famous. I am right now in Spain, attending a conference. I request all of you to respect my privacy. All glory belings to Indian Railways,' she added. Meanwhile, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu has congratulated Madhavi Latha for the world's highest railway bridge over the Chenab river. CM Naidu lauded the engineer for her 17 years of dedication and sacrifice in building the bridge. In a post on X, Chandrababu Naidu wrote: 'Another Telugu daughter has made India proud! I salute Professor G. Madhavi Latha Garu, one of the brilliant minds behind the world's highest railway bridge over the Chenab River, inaugurated by Hon'ble Prime Minister Narendra Modi Ji on June 6. Hailing from a small village in Andhra Pradesh, she dedicated 17 years of hard work and sacrifice to build this architectural marvel for the nation.'
Indian Express
10-06-2025
- Politics
- Indian Express
Hailed for work on Chenab Bridge project, Professor Dr G Madhavi Latha reacts: ‘Don't make me unnecessarily famous'
Dr G Madhavi Latha, the Indian Institute of Science professor who worked on the Chenab Bridge marvel, is winning plaudits on social media. The 1,315 long bridge, built 359 meters above the river, was officially inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on June 6. As social media celebrated Latha for her 17-year-long contribution to the project, she urged people not to make her 'unnecessarily famous'. In a lengthy post on LinkedIn, Latha revealed that several fathers have written to her wanting their daughters to become like her. 'All glory of the planning, design and construction goes to Indian Raliways and AFCONS. Thousands of people have significantly contributed in different ways for the construction of this iconic bridge. There are millions of unsung heroes to whom I salute today. My role as a geotechnical consultant to AFCONS was to help in developing slope stabilization schemes and design of foundations on slope,' she wrote. 'Many fathers have written to me saying that they want their daughters to become like me. Many young kids have written to me that they now want to take up Civil Engineering as their career choice. I am extremely happy about this. Thanks to all Indians who have poured congratulatory messages to me,' she added. Concluding the post, Latha urged people to respect her privacy, highlighting the thousands others who contributed to the Chenab Bridge project. 'Please remember that I am one of the thousands who deserve appreciation for Chenab bridge. Please don't make me unnecessarily famous. I am right now in Spain, attending a conference. I request all of you to respect my privacy,' she wrote. See the post here: From Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu to business tycoon Anand Mahindra, several prominent figures have hailed Latha, dedicating posts to her on social media. The Chenab Bridge is a steel arch marvel designed to withstand seismic activity and strong winds, enhancing connectivity between Jammu and Srinagar.
India Today
10-06-2025
- Science
- India Today
IISc professor salutes unsung heroes as support pours in for Chenab Bridge success
Dr G Madhavi Latha, the Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru professor, being credited for her instrumental role behind the development of the Chenab Rail Bridge, has termed the bridge a civil engineering marvel and has credited the thousands of other people who have significantly contributed to the construction of the iconic bridge. "Thousands of people have significantly contributed in different ways in the construction of this iconic bridge. There are millions of unsung heroes to whom I salute today," she wrote on LinkedIn. advertisement"Please remember that I am one of the thousands who deserve appreciation for Chenab bridge. Please don't make me unnecessarily famous," Dr Madhavi Latha further wrote. She also said that all credit behind the planning, design and construction of the bridge goes to the Indian Railways and AFCONS. Elaborating on her role in the project, she said that her role was limited to developing slope stabilisation schemes and designing the foundations on the slope. "My role as a geotechnical consultant to AFCONS was to help in developing slope stabilization schemes and design of foundations on slope," she said. advertisementDr Latha also expressed happiness over the fact that she has received several messages not only from parents who want their daughters to become civil engineers, but also from students who wish to take up civil engineering as a career option following the successful completion of the Chenab Rail Bridge project. "Many fathers have written to me saying that they want their daughters to become like me. Many young kids have written to me that they now want to take up Civil Engineering as their career choice. I am extremely happy about this. Thanks to all Indians who have poured congratulatory messages to me," she said. Dr Latha's role in this project was not easy. She had to face extreme weather, challenging terrain, and the harsh conditions of the mountainous region while developing the bridge. The bridge has been constructed at a height higher than the Eiffel Tower and requires precision engineering to ensure its safety and currently serves as a professor in IISc's Department of Civil Engineering and is also the Chair of the Centre for Sustainable Technologies at IISc.
Time of India
13-05-2025
- Time of India
Court rejects discharge plea of six negligence-accused employees in P-305 barge sinking case
Mumbai: Rejecting the discharge plea of six accused employees of PAPAA Shipping Pvt Ltd and AFCONS Infrastructure Ltd who were booked for negligence during the sinking of the barge PAPAA 305 (P-305) and loss of 71 lives when cyclone Tauktae raged in 2021, a sessions court on Friday stated that there was a prima facie case to proceed against the case of the officers of PAPAA Shipping, in three separate orders, additional sessions judge S B Pawar said, "As per the service order, prima facie it was the responsibility of PAPAA Shipping Pvt Ltd to maintain and repair life rafts, and the malfunctioned life rafts on P-305 were also equally responsible for the casualties. The report of DG Shipping further provides that the competence of the shore-based management (PAPAA Shipping Pvt Ltd, Afcons, and ONGC) as well as the staff of AWB P-305 were not of the required level to deal with the situation during the incident. Therefore, prima facie there is material against the responsible officers of PAPAA Shipping Pvt Ltd to proceed against them as well."On May 17, 2021, P-305, which the company provided to a contractor working on the maintenance of ONGC's offshore oil and gas fields, sank. While 186 people were rescued, 71 bodies were recovered, and six others went orders relating to officers of AFCONS, the judge said that the contention that the incident occurred solely due to the cyclone is prima facie unacceptable. "The documents on record indicate that the responsible officers from Afcons were not only negligent during the incident but they were instrumental in not shifting the barge to the place of shelter at the right time. Thus, there is prima facie material against them to proceed and to frame charge," the judge said in three separate orders. The accused were booked under the stringent charge of culpable homicide not amounting to six whose pleas were rejected are Nitin Singh, a director of PAPAA Shipping; Akhilesh Tiwari, technical superintendent, PAPAA Shipping; Prasad Rane, office administrator, PAPAA Shipping; Sajjan Joshi, deputy general manager (operations) in AFCONS; Sanjay Jha, general manager (projects) in AFCONS; and Kumar Rudra, vice-president, oil and gas division in AFCONS. The judge noted that though cyclone Tauktae was responsible for the unfortunate accident leading to a large number of casualties, the immediate cause for the incident was the decision not to shift P-305 to a place of safety even after receipt of weather alarm and forecast about the cyclone. "The chargesheet further shows that another factor which equally contributed to the number of casualties was malfunctioned life rafts on P-305 and the safety measures were not up to the mark," the judge judge said that the statement of witnesses suggests that work of about five to six more days remained to be completed. "Therefore, it prima facie appears that shifting the barge to Mumbai port or to the place of shelter far away from the field was not in the economic interest of AFCONS," the judge judge mentioned that printouts of email communications exchanged by AFCONS to various barges or vessels at the field indicate that instructions were issued to proceed to Mumbai port but no such instruction seems to have been issued to P-305. The judge denied the submissions that the barge master, Rakesh Ballav, who also died in the incident, was not the sole and independent decision-maker. Ballav was made an accused in the reference to life-saving appliances, the judge said that it appeared that P-305 was provided with 36 inflatable liferafts and only one rescue boat. "It appears from the report of DG Shipping based on the statements of survivors that the liferafts did not inflate correctly and collapsed, which indicates that these were not serviced and maintained in proper condition. In the conclusion, it is mentioned that P-305 does not appear to have been maintained to the required standard, the servicing of liferafts was not satisfactory as it did not ensure that liferafts were functional when it was required at the time of actual emergency," the judge the verdict on the discharge pleas was pronounced on Friday, the detailed orders were made available on Tuesday. Opposing the discharge pleas, special public prosecutor Ajay Misar submitted that the accused failed to call back P-305 to shelter for monetary consideration as a small part of the work as per contract remained to be was the prosecution's case that ONGC contracted a consortium of AFCONS Infrastructure Ltd, Trinue Energy Solutions Pvt Ltd, and Halani International Ltd for the 'Life Extension of Well Head Platform Project (LEWPP-I & II)' in the Arabian Sea. This project involved the refurbishment, replacement, and modification of equipment, systems, piping, and subsea repairs for unmanned platforms in the Mumbai High North, Mumbai High South, Neelam, and Heera fields. For this project, AFCONS chartered the accommodation work barge PAPAA-305 (P-305), capable of accommodating 300 people. It is the case of the prosecution that after receiving a weather alarm in respect of cyclone Tauktae, all the barges and vessels which were in the field of the ONGC project were given instructions to shift to the shelter except P-305. The Yellow Gate police registered an FIR against barge P-305's captain, Rakesh Ballav, and nine others.
