7 deaths in 2 mishaps: NGO wants PWD engineers booked

Taking serious note of two accidents that resulted in death of seven persons of two families on Saturday, NGO Arrivesafe has asked Punjab Police to book engineers of the public works department under Indian Penal Code section 304 (causing death by negligence).

Taking serious note of two accidents that resulted in death of seven persons of two families on Saturday, NGO Arrivesafe has asked Punjab Police to book engineers of the public works department under Indian Penal Code section 304 (causing death by negligence).

The NGO said four members of a family were killed when their car plunged into a canal in Muktsar, while three members of another family were killed when their car fell into Sirhind Canal in Ropar.

“Apart from section 304, section 336 (endangering life and safety of others) and section 288 (negligent conduct in respect of repairing or pulling down a building or structure) should also be slapped on PWD executive engineer, sub-divisional engineer and junior engineer of the area,” said president of Arrivesafe Harman Singh Sidhu.

The NGO has forwarded its letter to director general of police and Chief Minister Punjab.

“It would take how many more innocent lives to wake up authorities?” asked Sidhu. “A police officer is suspended for dereliction of duty whereas putting weak railings on bridges puts so many lives at risk. PWD engineers should be held accountable and booked,” he said.

“PWD engineers are duty-bound to follow the specifications laid down for crash barriers (section 206.6 of Indian road congress: 6-2014 standard specifications and code of practice for road bridges). Instead, they put up fragile pipes,” said Sidhu.

The NGO claims to have forced Punjab and Haryana governments to keep liquor vends at “safe distance” from the national highways.