Varanasi: Two engineers of UP bridge corporation were suspended on Sunday night in connection with the damage in the newly-constructed approach road of a bridge on river Varuna, constructed as part of the ambitious four-lane Lehartara-Shivpur by-pass road project.
This bridge on the Varuna on Shivpur Chungi-Lahartara road via Phulwaria- JP Mehta Inter College and Central Jail Road of Rs 34.65crore was among the projects which were inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his last visit to Varanasi on July 7.
District magistrate Kaushal Raj Sharma said that assistant engineer Gyanendra Verma and junior engineer Rajesh Kumar have been suspended by the managing director of UPBC Sanjiv Bhardwaj. The order in this regard was received on Saturday night, he said, adding that a three-member committee has also been formed for further investigation into the matter.
The Shivpur-Lehartara four-lane road is among the priority projects of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, who had reviewed the progress of the project during his past visits. As the work on the bridge of the four-lane by-pass road project, which aims to ease traffic load on Andhrapul and Chowkaghat crossings, was completed, it was included in the list of ready work for inauguration by the PM during his July 7 visit.
However, in less than two months of its inauguration, the approach road of the bridge started caving-in and marks of cracks started widening.
On becoming aware about the damage in the approach road of the bridge, the UPBC MD asked chief project manager Deepak Govil to probe into the matter and submit a report.
During investigation, it came to light that the prescribed norms of rolling for settling of soil before road construction had been overlooked due to which the road had started caving in and railing of the bridge was also damaged. Within a few hours of submission of this report, two engineers were suspended while a committee for detailed probe has been asked to submit its report in a week.
This bridge on the Varuna on Shivpur Chungi-Lahartara road via Phulwaria- JP Mehta Inter College and Central Jail Road of Rs 34.65crore was among the projects which were inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his last visit to Varanasi on July 7.
District magistrate Kaushal Raj Sharma said that assistant engineer Gyanendra Verma and junior engineer Rajesh Kumar have been suspended by the managing director of UPBC Sanjiv Bhardwaj. The order in this regard was received on Saturday night, he said, adding that a three-member committee has also been formed for further investigation into the matter.
The Shivpur-Lehartara four-lane road is among the priority projects of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, who had reviewed the progress of the project during his past visits. As the work on the bridge of the four-lane by-pass road project, which aims to ease traffic load on Andhrapul and Chowkaghat crossings, was completed, it was included in the list of ready work for inauguration by the PM during his July 7 visit.
However, in less than two months of its inauguration, the approach road of the bridge started caving-in and marks of cracks started widening.
On becoming aware about the damage in the approach road of the bridge, the UPBC MD asked chief project manager Deepak Govil to probe into the matter and submit a report.
During investigation, it came to light that the prescribed norms of rolling for settling of soil before road construction had been overlooked due to which the road had started caving in and railing of the bridge was also damaged. Within a few hours of submission of this report, two engineers were suspended while a committee for detailed probe has been asked to submit its report in a week.