Ramnagar ghat tragedy: Officer and JE suspended

Varanasi: An assistant project officer and a junior engineer of UP Project Corporation were suspended, while FIR was lodged against the contractor in the case of caving in of the roof of a new stone structure at Ramnagar Ghat, in which a labourer and a pet dog were killed on Thursday.Taking note of the incident, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Friday expressed displeasure and issued strict directives to initiate all necessary measures to avoid recurrence of such incidents in the future. He also made it clear that there should be no compromise on the quality of work. Strict action would be taken if the work was found substandard, he said. Following the CM's directives, general manager of zone-1 Uttar Pradesh Project Corporation Limited (UPPCL), Prayagraj, Dinesh Kumar, inspected the site at the under-construction ghat in Ramnagar on Friday and instructed to ensure the quality of work.Following his inspection, the GM ordered suspension of assistant project manager Dilip Kumar and JE Renu of UPPCL Unit-3 Varanasi. He also directed to lodge FIR against contractor Omprakash Pandey of Deepnagar Sonbhadra. He asked to halt work on all sites for which Pandey's company had been awarded contract of work and to conduct investigation by the technical audit committee to check the quality of work.Before leaving for other project sites for inspection, the GM cautioned his subordinates to ensure that the quality of work is not compromised at any cost. In case of detection of substandard quality, the firm concerned will be blacklisted and legal action would be taken.Ramnagar police said that after lodging FIR, police had started investigation. The body of Mevala (60), a labourer of Chandauli district, who was killed when heavy stones and debris of the newly constructed artistic stone shed collapsed at the under-construction ghat, was handed over to his family following a post mortem. Financial assistance of Rs 4 lakh from state disaster response fund (SDRF) was transferred to the bank account of the wife of the deceased. On the other hand, a group of locals led by Shrinarain Dwivedi began a sit-in at the under-construction ghat at Ramnagar, demanding early arrest of the accused.