Taking stern action against negligence and irregularities in works related to the Kumbh Mela to be held in Haridwar next year, the State government has suspended three engineers of the Irrigation department. These include one executive engineer and two superintending engineers.
The Irrigation secretary Bhupinder Kaur Aulakh issued the orders for suspension of these engineers on Tuesday evening. Superintending engineer of the Irrigation department, Sharad Srivastava was given additional charge of the work of the Kumbh Mela. During this time, he took out many tenders in which various irregularities were spotted. After proper check of the anomalies, his suspension was ordered by the state administration with the approval of the governor.
Apart from this, the executive engineer Purushottam of Irrigation Block Haridwar has also been suspended due to delay in work and irregularities. He was found guilty of dividing Kumbh Mela works in bits, not checking work quality regularly, slow progress of work and lack of regular inspection and monitoring.
The administration also found the superintending engineer (Rehabilitation) Prem Singh Panwar guilty of opening the tenders ahead of time and suspended him as well.
If sources are to be believed, other officers too are being checked upon by the state government to ascertain whether they have been negligent in discharing their duties and merit action. The suspended superintending engineers Srivastava and Panwar have been attached to the office of the chief engineer while the suspended executive engineer Purushottam has been attached to the office of the executive engineer, Haridwar irrigation block.
It is pertinent to mention here that initial probe had uncovered irregularities and gaps in the works under these three engineers. The authorities got some of the questionable works investigated by a third party to ascertain the grounds for suspension.It is worth mentioning here that while reviewing works being undertaken for the Kumbh Mela 2021, the chief minister Trivendra Singh Rawat has repeatedly stressed on the need to expedite works and ensure quality. While chairing a meeting to review the Kumbh Mela works on Monday, the chief minister had directed that all permanent construction works should be completed by November this year.