5 engineers to face action for poor NH work

Pratibha Chauhan

Tribune News Service

Shimla, October 15

Five engineers, including a Chief Engineer, will face departmental action for overlooking substandard work on the Himachal’s Kandror-Hamirpur National Highway.

Show-cause notices will be issued to the five — Chief Engineer and Superintendent of National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), Executive Engineer, Sub-Divisional Officer and Junior Engineer — associated with the work. The officers will have to reply to the notice, to be issued by Additional Chief Secretary, Public Works Department, within 15 days. A decision will then be taken on future course of action against the officers.

“Gross discrepancies have been detected in the work on the Kandror-Hamirpur National Highway. Orders have been issued to initiate departmental action against them as there can be no compromise with quality,” said Sanjay Kundu, Principal Secretary to Chief Minister and head of Quality Control Cell. The Quality Control Cell has been set up to ensure there is no compromise on the quality of work, especially with regard to roads, bridges and other construction works in government department, schemes and work being awarded to contractors.

The officials have been found guilty of ignoring substandard work undertaken during the construction of the highway. Earlier, the issue of substandard tarring on the stretch had been raised but no action was taken.