Ayodhya waterlogging: 6 officials suspended, SP MP seeks high-level inquiry

The Uttar Pradesh government has suspended six officials of civic agencies for gross negligence following road cave-ins and waterlogging at several sections of the newly-built Ram Path in Ayodhya.

The newly-elected Lok Sabha MP from Faizabad, -Awadhesh Prasad, on Saturday demanded a high-level inquiry into the alleged irregularities in the construction of the 14-km-long Ram Path and the sewer lines beneath the road in Ayodhya.

About 15 bylanes and streets along the Ram Path were flooded after rains on June 23 and June 25. Even homes along the road went underwater. Portions of the 14-kilometre road stretch also caved in at more than a dozen places.

On Saturday, Awadhesh Prasad along with Samajwadi Party district president Parasnath Yadav and his team inspected the Ram Path and other areas of Ayodhya. Prasad first went to the only government hospital in Ayodhya, the Shriram Hospital, where there was waterlogging, then he visited the flood-affected roads and bylanes of Ayodhya.

Speaking to PTI, Prasad said, "How many people are responsible, who are responsible, everything must be clear. The action taken against some people is not sufficient. There are more people involved in the irregularities in Ram Path construction."

"This is a big issue, loot is being done in the name of Ram. A high-level investigation committee should be formed, and an investigation should be done in a timely manner," Prasad said.

He said that if the roads of Ram Path were well constructed, then there would be no need to fill the potholes.

"People from all over the world come to Ayodhya, The poor construction of Ram Path has brought shame for all of us," the Faizabad MP said.

Shriram Hospital is full of mud and dirt and the hospital is stinking, he said.

"The name of Ram is being brought into disrepute due to the disturbances in the Ram Path," he said.

The suspended officials are Dhruv Aggarwal (executive engineer), Anuj Deshwal (assistant engineer) and Prabhat Pandey (junior engineer) of the Public Works Department (PWD) and Anand Kumar Dubey (executive engineer), Rajendra Kumar Yadav (assistant engineer) and Mohammad Shahid (junior engineer) of the Uttar Pradesh Jal Nigam.

Aggarwal and Deshwal were suspended on the orders of special secretary Vinod Kumar on Friday. Pandey's suspension order was issued by PWD chief engineer (development) VK Srivastav.

Uttar Pradesh Jal Nigam managing director Rakesh Kumar Mishra issued the orders for the three engineers' suspension.

The state government has also issued a notice to Ahmedabad-based contractor Bhuvan Infracom Private Limited in connection with the matter.

The PWD office order stated that the upper-most layer of the Ram Path was damaged shortly after its construction, showing laxity in the work done and damaging the image of the state among common people.

Further probe is underway, PWD principal secretary Ajay Chauhan said.