OdishaTOP STORIESराज्यलोकल न्यूज़

Drain worker’s death: CMC probe panel blames contractor

CUTTACK: A month after a 32-year-old worker was killed and another sustained grievous injuries after a portion of a boundary wall collapsed on them during drain construction work in Bidanasi area, the CMC panel probing the incident has given a clean chit to the engineers concerned and is holding the contractor solely responsible for the mishap.

The conclusion has, meanwhile, sparked discontent among the local residents who, besides questioning the authenticity of the report, are peeved over the delay in compensating the deceased’s kin.

 

Former corporator of ward no 18 Arun Sethi said though the CMC probe panel had assured of paying due compensation to the deceased’s family besides initiating action against those found responsible for the incident within a month, neither of the promises have been fulfilled.

Alleging discrepancies in the probe panel report, Sethi further threatened of staging protest if the deceased’s family is not compensated and action not taken against the CMC engineers concerned, within a week.

 

Meanwhile, additional commissioner of CMC Kalpataru Behera, who was heading the three-member probe panel, said the inquiry report has already been submitted to the CMC commissioner for necessary action. “We conducted a thorough probe and found that the mishap took place due to gross negligence on part of the contractor, who had neither taken any safety measures nor protected the drain construction site from the dilapidated wall,” said Behera.

Unconvinced by Behera’s statement, the former corporator alleged it was nothing but a cover-up exercise to protect the errant CMC officials responsible for the incident. He further questioned why the engineers were not being held responsible for the mishap when it was their duty to supervise the work.

 

CMC commissioner Anam Charan Patra and mayor Subhas Singh could not be contacted for their comments on the matter.

 

The incident had taken place on December 8 in Bidanasi area when a portion of the boundary wall caved in on S Sankar of Patapola and his co-worker Y Ijiya Rao (58) while they were engaged in drain construction work. Sankar was killed in the mishap.

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