Ghaziabad: Pillar of Hindon elevated road damaged near Haj House
Pillar number 194 near the Haj House was found damaged and was later fixed by the engineering team of the GDA. The officials suspect that some miscreants deliberately tried to damage the pillar
One of the 227 pillars of the 10.3km Hindon elevated road, which is under construction, was found damaged on Wednesday.
The road is being constructed by Ghaziabad development authority at a cost of Rs 1,146 crore and is meant to connect Raj Nagar Extension (near NH-58) to UP Gate (near Delhi-Ghaziabad border).
According to officials, pillar number 194 near the Haj House was found damaged and was later fixed by the engineering team of the GDA. The officials suspect that some miscreants deliberately tried to damage the pillar. Currently, the authority has erected all 227 pillars for the road and the project is in its final stages.
“The pillars of the elevated road are as per specifications and cannot be damaged so easily. When we received the information, our team reached there for an inspection and fixed the damaged patch. We suspect that the damage could be intentional,” said Chakresh Jain, executive engineer, GDA.
Jain categorically said that it not was some structural or construction defect that caused damage to the pillar.
Concrete and iron bars used for erecting the pillar were clearly visible in the damaged part, he said. The officials said they will inspect the other pillars in the vicinity and also file a police complaint.
The officials also suspect that the damage could be the result of the recent violence at the Haj House. On Monday, nearly 400-500 people had gathered outside the Haj House near river Hindon and demanded that the centre be made operational.
For the last one week, since the Haj pilgrimage is on, locals have been demanding that the newly constructed Haj House, which was inaugurated by former UP chief minister Akhilesh Yadav in September 2016, be opened.
Although the protest was peaceful during the day, it turned violent on Monday evening and the police had to resort to caning to disperse the crowd. Police also claimed that the protesters pelted stones at them.
Following the incident, Ghaziabad police had lodged an FIR against 14 persons and also booked 300-400 others as unidentified.
