3 PWD engineers suspended for dereliction in duty

Three engineers of the Himachal Pradesh Public Works Department (HPPWD) have been suspended for dereliction in duty, an official spokesperson said on Friday.

The state government has placed under suspension the then Executive Engineer, HPPWD, Division Rohru and presently posted at Theog, Ravi Bhatti; Assistant Engineer, Rohru Narender Singh Naik; and Junior Engineer, Civil, HPPWD, Rohru Section Vijay Kumar, he said.

They are suspended for their negligence in proper supervision and monitoring in the construction of a double lane bridge over River Pabbar at Bakhirna in Shimla's Rohru subdivision, he said.

The under-construction bridge collapsed on May 13.

A three-member committee to inquire into the reasons of its collapse was set up on the directions of Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur.

In addition to technical shortcomings in construction of the bridge, negligence in proper supervision and monitoring was also pointed out in the findings of the committee, Principal Secretary, PWD, J C Sharma said.

A detailed inquiry in the matter was conducted and all these three engineers were found primarily responsible for this lapse, he added.

While the three officials have been put under suspension, show cause notices were being issued to remaining officers posted and associated with the said construction work, he added.