The Odisha Government’s decision to inquire the Bomikhal flyover mishap by a team of Works Department officers is only an eyewash. For, how can two Chief Engineers of the Works Department be objective and free of prejudice in their probe of the commission and omission of the same department?

For record’s sake, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik also happens to hold the Works Department portfolio and by entrusting the inquiry to two officers of the same department, is not the Government attempting to cover its tracks?

To expect the Department officials to nail their higher-ups and colleagues simply flies in the face of logic. At best, the probe would find scapegoats for such a massive lapse which could have resulted in a disaster had it not been a Sunday because the Saheed Nagar-Bomikhal route is used by hundreds of commuters on week days.