Kin allege negligence by rly authorities for deaths of 2 engrs, demand compensation and action

Kota: Family members of two railway engineers, killed after a section of earth of an under-construction underpass caved in near Dara Ghati under Modak police station in Kota Thursday night, alleged negligence by railway authorities and demanded compensation and investigation for action against those responsible.

Despite the national holiday of Eid, the two engineers were sent for inspection at the worksite while there was no adequate manpower, which reflected negligence of the authorities, the kin of the two deceased engineers, who reached Kota on Friday, alleged in media interaction outside MBS Hospital mortuary.

The deceased engineers were identified as Prabhat Singh, 30, junior engineer in probation period and resident of Bhopal in Madhya Pradesh, and Sanjay Kumar Jha, 47, senior section engineer and resident of Dhamaura, West Champaran, in Bihar.

“The mishap occurred at 8 pm Thursday night when a section of earth of an under-construction underpass caved in, burying the two engineers,” senior divisional commercial manager, Railways, Kota, Sourabh Jain said. The two engineers were on inspection of the site when the earth suddenly collapsed, he added.

Expressing condolence to the aggrieved families, Jain termed the mishap unfortunate and refuted negligence of the authorities, saying the deceased engineer was himself site in-charge and all safety and precautionary measures were in place.

The affected families would be compensated as per norms and an inquiry into the mishap has been ordered, he said.

The rescue operation was launched immediately after the mishap with JCBs, and the two engineers were rescued within 15 minutes and were rushed to hospital in Kota, where Prabhat was declared brought dead while Sanjay Kumar Jha succumbed later during treatment, the railway authorities said.

The family members expressed anger and disappointment to the railway’s senior officials present outside the mortuary for negligence and lack of safety measures. They questioned the continuity of the work at the site by the same contractor.

Meanwhile, the body of deceased Prabhat Singh was handed over to family members after post-mortem at MBS Hospital on Friday noon while Sanjay’s wife was on the way to Kota to claim the body. However, autopsy was conducted after arrival of his brother, assistant sub inspector at Modak police station Laakhan Lal said.

Notably, in order to avoid frequent traffic jams at Dara Ghati, construction of an underpass worth Rs 9.98 crore is underway on NH52-Jhalawar Road under Modak police station in Kota district.