Questions being raised on safety checks by expert committee

Chandigarh: Questions are being raised about the functioning of expert technical, mechanical and electrical committees that were mandated to put swings in the amusement zone of Surajkund fair under safety checks, ahead of installation and routine operations of the day.To ascertain this, a three-member SIT constituted by the Haryana DGP under the supervision of DCP crime (headquarters), Faridabad, Mukesh Malhotra is expected to quiz the members of the team on this account. A Haryana police inspector had died last week while trying to save people at the Surajkund fairgrounds after a giant swing snapped mid-air and collapsed.Meanwhile, in what appears to be a once-bitten, twice-shy situation for the authorities at the fair, the management closed down the entire amusement section of the mela. At the same time, amid allegations of loss of business by around 70 stall owners in the amusement section, the trade fair authorities were mulling ensuring that the shops were either relocated or allowed to function from the amusement area.Faridabad deputy commissioner-cum-district magistrate Aayush Sinha, who had given administrative approval for the event, remained inaccessible. However, reliable sources and official spokespersons claimed the district administration communicated well in time, while asking them as well as technical committees to ensure safety test.According to office orders issued for the DC Faridabad, a nine-member technical team to ensure the safety test included executive engineers (XEN) electrical inspectorate, Faridabad; XEN PWD (mechanical) Faridabad; XEN (electrical) PWD Faridabad; head, electrical department, YMCA Faridabad; XEN Haryana Tourism Corporation (HTC0 Faridabad; fire officer Faridabad; sub-divisional engineer (SDE) electrical HSVP; incharge mechanical, Haryana Roadways; and JE of HTC, Faridabad. The committee was headed by the XEN electrical inspectorate and was supposed to carry out safety checks on a daily basis.This committee was constituted on Jan 22 and was directed to ensure that daily inspection reports were submitted to the office of the Faridabad DC, with copies marked to the chief administrator of the mela as well as the managing director of Haryana Tourism Corporation, the copy accessed by TOI revealed.Sources said the SIT was asked to record statements of the committee members, in addition to examining the daily reports submitted by them to the DC and other authorities. Sources privy to the investigations confirmed the same. The officers concerned, however, remained non-responsive to communications.Meanwhile, the authorities confirmed closure of the amusement section pending investigations. "Following the request of vendors, who were running their shops, they were allowed to function, and some of them were relocated," an official said.Parth Gupta, managing director of Haryana Tourism that has organised the mela, has state, "The swings in amusement section have been closed for the remainder period of the mela. As far as safety checks are concerned, our teams are conducting enhanced safety checks on entire mela premises." The incident took place on Saturday when a police inspector died and 12 others, including a lady cop and SPO, were injured after the swing broke down in the amusement section of the Surajkund fair. |