15 engineers suspended, actions against 3 being initiated

Taking serious note of the bridge collapse incidents, Bihar government suspended 15 engineers of various ranks whereas suspension action being initiated against two engineers and legal action being taken up against one.

Development Commissioner Chaitanya Prasad and additional chief secretary revenue and land reforms department Deepak Kumar Singh told news persons Friday evening that four executive engineers, four assistant engineers and seven junior engineers have been suspended.

They said that in addition to the action against engineers the contractors of the collapsed bridges have been blacklisted, they have been directed to bear the reconstruction cost and their payments and further work allotment has been held.

Prasad said that 9 bridges and culverts collapsed in various districts in the last days of which six were too old and three were under construction.

Outlining details of the bridges over the river Chhadi and Gandki that collapsed on July 3 and 4 in Siwan and Saran districts, Prasad said that for an uninterrupted flow of the Chhadi/ Gandki rivers in Gopalganj, Siwan and Saran districts and for linking of rivers as well as for execution of Jal Jeevan Hariyali mission Gandak- Akali-Chhadi-Gandki-Mahi-Ganga River linking project was being executed by the water resources department.

The project for discharging extra water from the river Gandak in river Ganga through rivers Chhadi Gandki and Mahi was being executed at an expenditure of Rs 69.89 crore. Desiltation in the related rivers has to be done in 170 km length, 19 M width and in 3 M deep. The project has to be finished by 2025 and it would help in controlling the flood and improving the groundwater level.

During investigation the flying squad team found that while executing the project the engineers concerned did not adopt preventive measures to keep the bridges and culverts safe , Prasad said. Adequate technical monitoring was also ignored and it was found that the executing contractor also exhibited lackadaisical approach towards the work.

The Executive Engineers of water resources department suspended in connection with the bridge collage incident in Siwan and Saran are Amit Anand Executive Engineer flood control division Siwan Kumar Brijesh Executive Engineer water discharge division Siwan.

The assistant engineers namely Rajkumar and Chandramohan Jha of flood control division Siwan and Simran Anand and Neha Rani assistant engineers in water discharge division Siwan and the junior engineers namely Mohammad Majid water discharge division Siwan, Ravi Kumar Rajnish , Rafi Ul Hoda Ansari , Ratnesh Gautam and Prabhat Ranjan of flood control division Siwan have also been suspended.

He said that Bihar state bridge construction Corporation has been directed to furnish the estimate at the earliest for reconstruction of the collapsed bridges which would be constructed at the risk and cost of the contractors who had constructed them.

The payment of the executing contractor of the said project has been held up till further orders.
Addressing the media persons Deepak Prasad Singh said that the then executive Engineer of rural Works Department Anjani Kumar and present Executive Engineer Ashutosh Kumar Ranjan and the then junior engineer Virendra Prasad and present junior engineer Manish Kumar have been suspended with immediate effect till further orders in connection with the bridge collapse incident of Araria on June 18. He said the enquiry committee headed by the chief engineer of rural Works Department- Purnia Nirmal Kumar found these engineers guilty of dereliction in their duties.

He said that the contractor of the affected Bridge was being blacklisted and the payment made to him was being recovered. The Other pending payments of the contractor concerned for all the other works have been held up with immediate effect.He said no new work would be allotted to the contractor concern and action would be initiated against him along with other guilty officers after getting the final inquiry report.

Singh further said that the under construction bridge in Ghodasahan block of East Champaran collapsed on June 23 and on inquiry the action for suspension of concerned junior engineer and assistant engineer was being initiated for ignoring the monitoring and taking up the construction work after June 15.

He said that in connection with the collapse of the garter of the under construction bridge in Madhubani on June 26, legal action was being initiated against junior engineer Pawan Kumar Ram for ignoring the monitoring. Action would also be initiated against the concerned contractor after getting the final enquiry report.(UNI)<>