Balua Ghat incident: Two project corporation officials suspended, contractor booked

The action came after the chief minister took cognizance of the death of a man and a dog due to the collapse of the canopy of a newly constructed changing room at Balua Ghat on Thursday.

VARANASI: Two officials of the Uttar Pradesh Projects Corporation Limited (UPPCL) were suspended, and an FIR was lodged against the project’s contractor over alleged irregularities in the construction of Balua Ghat (Shastri Ghat), which is being built at an estimated cost of ₹10 crore along the Ganga in Ramnagar, Varanasi.

A senior official privy to the matter said there were irregularities in the construction of the changing room canopy, which collapsed due to unskilled workmanship. (Sourced)

UPPCL’s assistant project manager Dilip Kumar and junior engineer Renu were suspended, while an FIR was filed against contractor Om Prakash Pandey. The construction work has been halted, and the quality of the work is being assessed by a technical committee.

Following orders from Chief minister Yogi Adityanath, general manager of UPPCL, Prayagraj Zone-1, Dinesh Kumar, inspected the construction work at Shastri Ghat on Friday, directing that quality be ensured. The GM said that if the work was found to be substandard, the concerned firm would be blacklisted.

The action came after the chief minister took cognizance of the death of a man and a dog due to the collapse of the canopy of a newly constructed changing room at Balua Ghat on Thursday. He ordered that such incidents be prevented in the future and emphasised that there should be no compromise on quality, warning of strict action for any irregularities in the construction work.

District magistrate S. Rajalingam, formed a three-member technical inquiry committee chaired by additional city magistrate Alok Verma Thursday, with instructions to submit a report within three days. The committee submitted its findings on Friday, which has been sent to the government.

A senior official privy to the matter said there were irregularities in the construction of the changing room canopy, which collapsed due to unskilled workmanship. The inspection revealed that the adhesive or filler material used to join the stones in the roof was unsatisfactory, the stone grooves were unsuitable for proper joining, and cramps were not used. Additionally, the construction agency failed to provide a copy of the drawing and design. It was clear that the contractor or firm used poor-quality materials, leading to the incident.

DM said that the technical inquiry committee submitted its report and strict action would be ensured against those committed irregularities in construction work in the ghat project. “Action would also be taken against the officials on whose part there had been laxity in supervision,” he said.

Earlier in December 2023, following a complaint by Cantt MLA Saurabh Srivastava regarding irregularities in the construction of the Ramnagar ghat, the district administration formed a three-member technical committee. This committee, which included the project director of DRDA, the executive engineer of construction block-1 (PWD), and an assistant engineer from DRDA, conducted an inquiry and submitted its report that same month.

A senior official revealed that the committee found the construction work substandard and clearly mentioned it in their report. Subsequently, district magistrate Rajalingam directed the UPPCL Varanasi’s project manager to file an FIR against the contractor responsible for the poor-quality work at the ghat, but he did not pay any heed to the DM’s order.