Patiala, June 27
The Punjab Government, taking strict cognisance of the tragedy that struck this city on Saturday when two children met a watery grave, has placed under suspension three top officials of the Punjab Water Supply and Sewerage Board (PWSSB) today .
The State government has also announced that Mr Pardeep Chowdhury, Chief Engineer, PWSSB, will conduct an inquiry into the tragedy.
The top officials who have been placed under suspension are Mr M.R Singla, Executive Engineer, Mr G.S Sahni, Sub Divisional Officer (SDO) and Mr Birinder Pal Singh, Junior Engineer (JE) of the PWSSB, respectively.
The Patiala SDM, Ms Poonamdeep Kaur, in her report submitted to the Deputy Commissioner, Mr R.K Verma, had said supervisory staff of the PWSSB should be held responsible for negligence. The SDM had also indicted the Bangalore-based civil works contractor responsible for carrying out concrete covering of the Ganda Nullah. The PWSSB was supervising the ganda Nullah work.
The local police has already booked the civil works contractor under section 304 of the IPC.
One of the main reasons being assigned for the accident was that the PWSSB had demolished the bridges on the nullah. However, the Municipal Corporation Commissioner, Ahluwalia, and the Mayor, Mr Vishnu Sharma, had protested against the removal of the bridges.
