Six engineers suspended for Jhansi chimney collapse

Six engineers have been suspended for negligence after a chimney collapsed at a power plant in Uttar Pradesh's Jhansi district killing two workers and injuring at least, an official said Saturday.

The engineers work for Rajya Vidyut Utpandan Nigam (the Uttar Pradesh power generation corporation).

"Those suspended are two superintendent engineers, two assistant engineers, an executive engineer and a junior engineer," corporation's chairman and managing director Alok Tandon told IANS.

"The engineers, who were entrusted with the task of carrying out regular inspections during the construction process, have been suspended for slackness in their work," he said.

Two labourers were killed and six injured, two of them seriously, when the 210-metre chimney at the 500 MW thermal power station in Jhansi collapsed April 24.

The Uttar Pradesh Power Corporation Ltd (UPPCL) had registered a first information report (FIR) against a state-run agency in connection with the collapse of the chimney.

"For negligence and use of sub-standard material in construction of the chimney, we have registered an FIR against National Building Construction Corporation (NBCC), the agency that was engaged in setting up the chimney," UPPCL chairman Navneet Sehgal had told IANS.