ENGINEERING CONSULTANTS INTERNATIONAL (PVT) LIMITED

HISTORY OF ECIL:
The history of ECIL can be traced back 1959 when engineer Zaheer mirza founded a
proprietary company by name of engineering consultant. Today ECIL is one of the leading
consulting groups in Pakistan having international operations it employee over 700
professionals and support staff across its organization and provides services in diversified
fields of engineering, economics, architecture, construction management, information
technology, geospatial technologies an social sciences. Over the past 10 years, ECIL has
focused on developing its resources in a manner to operate at the threshold of the “STATE-
OF-THE-ART” technology, adapted to the local conditions of the developing world.

INTRODUCTION:
Engineering Consultants International (PVT) Limited., (ECIL), was established in 1959. ECIL is
one of the largest private sector consulting companies in Pakistan, operating for the past 54
years in various fields of Architectural & Engineering, A&P & information technology. ECIL is
specialized in geographical information system (GIS) and remote ginseng applications. Our
multidisciplinary approach gives us a unique perspective on integrated solutions,
incorporating varies disciplines and technologies for an efficient end product.

BUSINESS TYPE:
Product Line: Geographic Information Systems, Remote Sensing, Digital Base Mapping,
Database Design, Data Integration/Automation, Internet Map Service, Legacy Systems,
Migration, Data Collection And Conversion Institutional Framework, Business Process Re-
Engineering, A&P Structural Engineering & Master Planning.

KARARCHI: SHERSHAH BRIDGE TRAGEDY: GUILTY FIRM “OFFER” TO

COMPENSATE LOSSES:
May 17 the government is considering a proposal allowing the company found responsible
for the September 2007 collapse of the Shershah Bridge to the damages for the losses
incurred by the exchequer and compensation for the loss of about half a dozen lives. This will
allow the company-guilty of a faculty structural design of the bridge and hence responsible
for the tragedy- an escape route from criminal prosecution the incident.
SHERSHAH BRIDGE COLLAPSED:
Shershah bridge is flyover in Karachi at the Parach Chowk bridge, Pakistan.
The 70-meter-long Baldia loop of the Shershah Bridge collapsed on step 1, 2007, a mere 20
days after its inauguration by the president Pervez Musharraf. the accident killed six persons.
Dozens of people were trapped under the mangled mass of concrete for over seven hours
before being rescued b government organization and volunteers.
However, after more than 18 months of the incident the government in February 2009
released the inquiry report, which held the private consultant- engineering consultants
international limited(ECIL)- solely responsible for the tragedy and also named a few senior
officials of the NHA.

MEMBER OF ECIL
The Nha Chief, Ex-Chairman Nha Major General Farrukh Javed, Operations Member Raja
Nowsherwan, General Manger (Construction) Mohammed Yousaf Barakzai, Ex-General
Manager (Construction) Retired Colonel Tahseenul Haq, Former Member Syed Najamul
Hassan, M/S Engineering Consultants International Limited (ECIL) Official Zaheer Mirza, Khalid
Mirza And Naveed Mirza.

THE INQUIRY COMMITTEE:

THE CONSULTANTS:
According to the contents of the inquiry committee report, the bridge design was flawed and
the consultant of the bridge , an employee of ECIL, had the bridge covertly designed from
Dubai, but presented it as her own.
The ECIL consultant told the inquiry committee that she had not previous experience of
designing curved bridge and therefore she shad the bridge designed from Dubai but
submitted the design as her own.
The inquiry report also reveals that, soon after construction, the portion of the bridge that
was to later collapse began tilting to one side. As a result, an independent consultant,
Muhammad Iqbal-ul-Haq, raised objection against the design at very early stage. However,
neither the NHA nor ECIL paid heed to his objection.
Soon after realizing the inherent fault in the design, ECIL hired a Greek consultant engineer
from Cyprus, Andros Achillos, and paid him US$100,000 for the “removal” of the flaws and
give recommendations for changes.
The foreign consultant engineer, who had no pervious experience of working in Pakistan and
was relatively unknown internationally, visited the site of the bridge and gave a go-ahead for
construction with minor modification.
After the collapse of bridge, when the inquiry committee sought the drawing calculation from
ECIL, the company refused to provide them, claiming that hey had “lost” them during the
shifting of their office.
The committee, in its report, construed the ECIL’s inability to provide the drawing calculation
to mean that they were not the original designers of the bridge.
NHA OFFICIALS:
On NHA’s part, then chairman major-general Farrukh Javed, member planning and then acting
member Highways Raja Nowshera and Northern Bypass Project director Yousuf Barakzai were
held equally responsible for insisting on the construction of bridge despite the faulty design.
The inquiry committee also found out that NHA’S general manger, chairman NHA major-
general Farrukh Javed and member Planning NHA Raja Nosherwan were also aware of Asim
Amin, has raised objections to the ECIL’s design but project Directors Yousuf Barakzai took
no action and kept the file with him until the bridge fell.
It was further revealed to the committee that ECIL was the consultant of the entire 57-
koilometer long northern bypass and it has acquired the project contract only for rs.850000-
an amount that was low that no other consultant firm could have even thought of taking it.
THE RECOMMENDATIONS:
Holding ECIL as well as Chairman NHA Farrukh Javed, NHA Member Planning Raja Nosherwan
and NHA project Director Barakzai responsible for the death of six people and a loss of millions
to the exchequer, the inquiry committee suggested the cancellation of ECIL’s license by the
Pakistan engineering council (PEC).
At the same time, there was no fir registered at any police station in the city for the death of
six people, even after passage of over a year since the bridge collapse.
The committee presented its report to PMIC, which, in turn, presented it to the pm secretariat
in march this year. Said that a member of committee to PMIC, “ the bridge collapse took the
lives of six persons and even after passage of 6 months to the submission of probe report, no
action has been taken against those held responsible by the inquiry committee, which is
highly disappointing to us”.

SHERSHAH BRIDGE COLLAPSE CASE: FINAL CHARGE-SHEET AGAINT TOP NHA,

ECIL EXECUTIVES SOUGHT:
NHA Chairman Altaf Ahmed Chaudhry, former Chairman retired Major-General Farrukh
Javed, member operations Raja Nowsherwan, General-Manager (construction) Mohammad
Yousuf Barakzai, former General-Manager (construction) retired COL Tahseenul Haq and
former member planning Syed Najamul Hassan along with ECIL Chairman Zaheer Mirza and
Directors Khalid Mirza and Naveed Mirza have been nominated in the fir of the bridge collapse
registered on an order of the apex Court on April 7.
Additional district and sessions judge Gulshan Ara Chandio on Wednesday directed the
investigation officer of the case to produce the relevant police file and submit a final charge-
sheet during the next hearing.
On April 15, the court had granted interim pre-arrest bail to all the suspects against a surety
bond of Rs1 million each till April 28. On April 24, investigation officer Mohammad Khalid khan
submitted an interim charge-sheet against them stating that a portion of the Shershah Bridge
had collapsed on Sept 1, 2007.
It was mentioned in the charge-sheet that the medical report of the victims were collected;
statement of witnesses (including some of those wounded in the incident) and expert from
the NED university (who were also the PMIT members) were recorded under section 161.
The police, it added, also collected copies of the maps and calculation volumes of a foreign
firm called ECIL for the retrofitting of the bridge. The coordinator of ECIL, had provided
important record to the police.
A Case (FIR No.181/2010) was registered against the suspects under sections 322
(punishment for qatl-bis-sabab), 431 (mischief by the injury to public road, bridge, river or
chanel), 427 (mischief causing damage to the amount of fifty rupees) and 337-h (punishment
for hurt by rash or negligence Act) of the Pakistan penal code at the site-a police station.

PAC ORDERS BLACKLISTINF OF ECIL:

The ECIL had designed Shershah Bridge in Karachi which collapsed soon after its inauguration
in 2008. As per audit report, the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) had engaged the ECIL in 2010-
2011 for upgrading the Multan International Airport which included construction of
passenger terminal building and allied electrical and machinal works. The auditors said that
because of the poor performance of the consultancy firm, the public exchequer suffered
Rs.124million loss.
When the PAC Chairman Syed Khurshid Shah took up the audit para regarding up-gradation
of MIA, Mohammad Ali Gardezi, secretary of the aviation division, briefed him about the
project.
However, when Mr. Gardezi informed the committee that this was the same firm which had
designed Shershah Bridge in Karachi, the PAC chairman shah, without any further query,
ordered blacklisting of the firm.