Contractor-firm and engineer guilty in the collapse of dome of Varanasi Shastri Ghat Letter sent to government on investigation report of ADM City, CM had given instructions for action | Contractor-firm and engineer guilty in the collapse of dome of Varanasi Shastri Ghat: Letter sent to government on investigation report of ADM City, CM had given instructions for action – Varanasi News

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ADM City investigated the role of officials, employees and contractors of PWD, DRDA and irrigation department in the investigation of the case. ADM submitted his report on Sunday, on the basis of which departmental action including FIR will be taken against the culprits.

Earlier, Chief General Manager AK Singh had suspended the JE and Assistant Project Manager (APM) of UPPCL Construction Unit-3. The works of Sonbhadra contractor Om Prakash Pandey have been investigated. If negligence and fraud is found, the firm can now be blacklisted.

Crowd of locals gathered at Balua Ghat after the roof collapsed on Thursday.

First of all let us tell you about the incident of Baradari

On September 12, the roof of the changing room being constructed at Baluaghat near Ramnagar Fort suddenly collapsed, killing a laborer sitting there. The deceased laborer was identified as Mewalal (57), resident of Alinagar, Chandauli.

When CM Yogi came to Varanasi, he expressed his displeasure over the incident and ordered action. The DM told the CM that the investigation has been handed over to the ADM City team and the report has now arrived. UPPCL Managing Director Santosh Singh suspended junior engineer Renu Jaiswal and assistant project manager Dilip Kumar and attached them to the General Manager Zone-1 Prayagraj office.

After the investigation report came, when the DM read the report, many officers were found to be negligent. The contractor, firm and engineer found guilty prima facie in the case of damaged structure in the tourism development work, a letter was sent to the government for taking action against them.

It is clear from the investigation report that the umbrella constructed at the work site was not stable due to unskilled workmanship, which caused this accident. During the inspection, it was found that the work (workmanship) of applying adhesive/filler material used in joining the stones used in the roof was not found satisfactory. The groove in the stones was not found to be suitable for joining the stones and cramps were also not found to be used for joining the stones.

Other domes of the ghat are also not safe: DM

During the investigation, deficiencies were also found in the remaining structure built at the work site. It became clear that the concerned contractor and firm had used poor quality material in the work and the concerned officer did not supervise properly.

District Collector S.Rajalingam has written a letter to the Principal Secretary, Irrigation Department, recommending action against the officers related to the report of the investigation committee. It was told that two more octagonal umbrellas have been built at the work site, whose stability is doubtful and which are of the same model. Their use is not safe for the public.

The drawing of the action plan was not given to ADM

The committee of Additional District Magistrate (City) also interacted with Executive Engineer PWD, Executive Engineer Irrigation, Assistant Engineer, District Rural Development Agency besides Project Manager and Deputy Director Tourism of the implementing agency UPPCL.

The drawings and designs approved by the technical institute of Chhatri related to the work present at the work site were sought from the officials of the implementing agency but no approved drawing and design was made available to the inspection committee.

Development work is going on with 10 crores

Let us tell you that Balua Ghat near the fort in Ramnagar police station area has been renamed as former Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri Ghat. About 10 crore rupees are being spent on development projects. Actually, the construction work of Shastri Ghat was being done by Uttar Pradesh Project Corporation Limited (UPPCL).

The length of this ghat is 130 meters and the width is 70 meters. Under this, many works are being done here. These include lighting, parking, bio toilet, CC road, baradari construction etc. In September 2023, the MLA had complained to the Tourism Minister.