3 suspended for Aug 27 floodgate collapse

The Punjab Government has ordered an inquiry into the collapse of three floodgates at the Madhopur Headworks on August 27 and placed three of its officers posted at the barrage under suspension.

The State Dam Safety Organisation has constituted a five-member expert committee — headed by AK Bajaj, a hydromechanical expert, with Pradeep Kumar Gupta, Sanjeev Suri, NK Jain and Vias Dev as members — to hold an impartial inquiry.

The committee will investigate the structural, mechanical, hydrological, geotechnical and operational causes that led to the washing away of the gates at the barrage. It will also examine the condition and performance of the gates, the embedded parts, hoisting arrangements and stability of civil structures. The committee will further suggest immediate and long-term remedial and rehabilitation measures.

The upkeep of the barrage has come under scrutiny with experts alleging that the floodgates had corroded and jammed. The working of the floodgates had also not been tested frequently, it is alleged.

Before announcing the committee, the government placed three officers of the department — Executive Engineer Nitin Sood, Sub-Divisional Officer Arun Kumar and Junior Engineer Sachin Thakur — under suspension.

A senior officer in the Water Resources Department said the move was aimed at ensuring an impartial investigation into the incident.

On the intervening night of August 26-27, when over two lakh cusecs of water was released from the Ranjit Sagar Dam reservoir on the upstream of the Ravi, the officials posted there could not open most of the 54 floodgates as these were jammed with silt and debris. Three of these floodgates collapsed under the pressure of the gushing water, exacerbating flooding in downstream areas of Pathankot and Gurdaspur.

Experts who were later called in to help open the gates got stuck in a building at the headworks, prompting the Army to rescue 22 persons from the structure, which collapsed soon after. An employee of the department was swept away and his body was found later.

The floodgates were sealed earlier this year after the government held the Indus River Waters Treaty (IWT) in abeyance. India had said it would not allow the flow of water from IWT rivers into Pakistan.

Bittu seeks minister’s resignation

Union Minister Ravneet Singh Bittu has demanded the resignation of state Water Resources Minister Barinder Goyal, saying mere suspension of officials was not enough. He asserted that both the CM and minister must be held accountable for gross negligence in flood preparation ahead of the monsoon.