Panaji, May 23 (IANS): In the wake of collapse of an under-construction flyover in Uttar Pradesh's Varanasi district that claimed 15 lives, the Congress on Tuesday demanded a thorough structural audit of two under-construction bridges across major rivers in Goa.

In a letter to Union Minister for Road Transport, Highways and Shipping Nitin Gadkari, former state Congress president Shantaram Naik on Tuesday said an audit was essential in order to fix responsibility of the officials in case of a disaster.

"This audit along with quality control steps are essential and there should be no room to shift the blame as was done in Varanasi," Naik said in his letter to Gadkari.

"Since two important bridges over rivers Mandovi and Zuari are being built, besides others which are at various stages of construction, an appropriate audit of various stages of construction of all these bridges on the National Highways of Goa be ordered," Naik wrote.

Fifteen persons died in the accident last week in Varanasi, where a flyover being constructed by the Uttar Pradesh Bridge Corporation collapsed.