Tuesday, December 20, 2011

Contractor taken into custody, charged with culpable homicide and criminal conspiracy


GANGTOK, 19 Dec: Mohan Bajaj, the contractor who constructed the Rangchang Bridge which collapsed today, has been taken under custody by the police. He is lodged at the Singtam thana. According to the SP East, MS Tuli, as of now, a criminal case under sections 304 and 120B of the Indian Penal Code have been registered against the contractor. Under these sections, a person is charged with culpable homicide not amounting to murder and criminal conspiracy.

10 people are feared dead in the terrible and inexplicable accident involving the sudden collapse of the Rangchang bridge, about 18 km from Singtam towards Dikchu on the Singam to Mangan highway. Three dead bodies have been recovered so far and rescue operations were suspended for the night and expected to resume tomorrow.
The bridge was constructed under Project Swastik and inaugurated in April 2009.
While the initial police action was to arrest the contractor, officials inform that they will now try to ascertain what went wrong with the bridge and how the bridge was constructed; GREF personnel will also be called in for questioning. It has also been informed that the bridge was built according to some “new design” which may have proved to be faulty.
Even as the police investigate the matter, Tika Chettri, daughter of one of the deceased in the bridge collapse, Bhola Nath Chettri, has called for strong action against the contractor and GREF for negligence. A resident of Lower Tumin her brother, Thal Bahadur Chettri, was also killed in the accident. While her brother’s dead body has been recovered, the father’s body remains untraced in the debris.
She has also appealed to the government to support her in condemning the incident as well as those responsible.

2 comments:

  1. the contractor Bajaj should definitely be taken. but what about the officials? i don't know how these things work out but common sense dictates that after a contractor (who after all is in it for the business of it) finishes the job, there should be inspections by competent authorities with the technical knowledge to ascertain whether the structure has the needed strength to be functional or not.
    first it was reported that the loaded vehicle may have been to be blamed. then someone said it had crossed many such bridges to get to this one that collapsed.
    the truth is somewhere out there.
    but if the whole point is to look for a scapegoat and pin the blame on someone surnamed bajaj, i doubt if the exercise will have any salutary effect for the longer run.
    something should be done in this suicide and accident prone state.

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  2. Apart from the contarctor...more should be made to stand up and take the blame...who gave the NOC for payment of such a weak structure?? isnt that the norm laid down in the GFRs and such . what about the GREF?? how and what were their part in it??? are they not responsible to see that a strong structure is made?? what about those manning the Rangpo chk post...didnt it occur to them that such a heavy vehicle a 48 wheeler with additional load mounted on it- would the fragile structure of Sikkim take such a load?? what bout the ppl at Tessta Urja...did it not occure to them to rethink....esp after the devastating earthquake......Sikkim needs answers and the govt has to provide them...just trying to shut the mouth up with compensation will not help, will it???? and what abut the opposition...are they not to seek answers now???

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