Nominated member of Muradnagar Nagar Palika says he complained about poor material being used at crematorium 5-6 months ago

Ghaziabad: A nominated member of the Muradnagar Nagar Palika on Wednesday said that he had apprised and written to the officials of the municipality as well as the

Ghaziabad: A nominated member of the Muradnagar Nagar Palika on Wednesday said that he had apprised and written to the officials of the municipality as well as the district administration at least twice about the “inferior quality” construction material being used at the Ukhlarsi cremation ground, but they allegedly paid no heed to his letters. On January 3, the roof of a shelter at the crematorium had collapsed, claiming lives of 24 people.

Vijaypal Hitkari, the nominated member of the Nagar Palika, said that he wrote two letters -- one dated June 16, 2020, to the district magistrate and another dated July 10, 2020, to the chairperson and executive officer of the Nagar Palika.

The nominated members of the local bodies are appointed by the state government.

“In both the complaints, I had clearly stated that there was very less use of cement (ratio 1:10) in the construction mixture and also that yellow-coloured bricks (semi baked) were getting used for construction. I had requested the officials to stop construction and take up an inquiry but it was never initiated. Now, they are conducting inquiries. Will it bring back the 24 lives lost in the incident?” said Hitkari, who is also a social activist.

“I had given two letters by hand to the officials and they did not give me any receipt or stamped copy. I had also marked the copies of the letter dated June 16 to state officials. Still, no action was taken,” he added.

The two letters written on the letter-head of Hitkari’s social organisation, ‘Nagar Vikas Parishad’, also went viral over social media.

District magistrate Ajay Shankar Pandey, however, said that he did not receive any letter written by Hitkari. “I received no such letter. If the complainant says that he gave a written complaint, he must produce the receipt of it,” Pandey said.

Nagar Palika chairperson, Vikas Teotia, also said that he did not receive any such letter written by the nominated member. “Had I received any letter complaining of poor construction material, I would have stopped the work and initiated an inquiry. But I received no such complaint,” he said.

Niharika Singh, executive officer of the Nagar Palika, is already under judicial custody after she was arrested by the Ghaziabad police in connection with the roof collapse incident.

A preliminary inquiry of the incident site by a committee of engineers of the Ghaziabad development authority and municipal corporation found the use of “substandard” material and “design issues” which allegedly led to structural failure on Sunday.

“I have already directed that the firm of the contractor be blacklisted and pending works to be stopped, along with pending payments. The directions have been given to the municipal corporation as well as to the Ghaziabad development authority officials. They have also been directed to check the construction quality of previous works done by the contractor,” Pandey added.

Contractor Ajay Tyagi involved in construction of the shelter at the cremation ground was also arrested by the Ghaziabad police on late Monday night. The police said that during questioning he confessed that he bribed officials of the Nagar Palika and also resorted to malpractices, including the use of material which was not as per norms.

The victims of the tragedy who survived after the incident have already said that the roof of the structure, about 40 feet in length, collapsed completely and not in phases which led to number of deaths.