Minor girl death at box drain: Odisha Govt suspends 2 engineers for dereliction of duty

Cuttack: The Housing and Urban Development (H&UD) department today placed two engineers namely Sanjeeb Kumar Pradhan and Dillip Kumar Sahoo, both working as assistant engineers in Cuttack Municipal Corporation (CMC), under suspension for non-performance and dereliction of duty.

This administrative step came close on the heels of the death of a minor girl in a box drain tragedy.

Disciplinary proceedings under major penalties against both Pradhan and Sahoo were contemplated for their non-performance of government duty during their incumbency. Therefore, the two engineers were placed under suspension with immediate effect on the basis of Rule-12(1)(a) of the OCS (CC&A) Rules, 1962 until further orders, separate notifications issued by the H&UD department said.

Also Read: Odisha: Minor girl succumbs to injuries after falling into box drain in Cuttack

During the period of suspension, the headquarters of Pradhan and Sahoo shall be the Office of the CMC, Cuttack and they shall not leave the headquarters without obtaining any prior permission of the competent authority. Both the engineers shall be entitled to the payment of subsistence allowances in accordance with Rule-90 of the Odisha Service Code, the H&UD notification mentioned.

Earlier in the day, Mayor Subash Chandra Singh held a meeting with senior officials of state Departments after he was vehemently opposed by the local corporator as well as residents and denied entry when Singh visited the fatal accident spot and wanted to meet the minor girl’s family members.

Later, the CMC Mayor ordered to put up information signage each, immediately to carry out barricading and deploy security guards at all construction sites in Cuttack City.

An ex-gratia of Rs 10 lakh was sanctioned to the next of kin of the minor girl who died on Tuesday while undergoing treatment in hospital after sustaining grievous injuries in an iron bridge collapse.

Worth mentioning, the deceased 16-year-old girl identified as N Mohini belonged to Nua Rausapatana in the city. She was a Plus II student of Emarti Devi Women’s College. The mishap occurred at Gamadia locality of Kesarpur under Puri Ghat police limits in Cuttack City.