NEW DELHI: The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has suspended the team leader of the authority's engineers and the project manager of the contractor over a cave-in on the newly built Delhi-Dehradun (DDE) Economic Corridor.
It is said the cave-in on the newly built Delhi-Dehradun (DDE) Economic Corridor was due to water stagnation following rains.
Meanwhile, the Authority has also sought an explanation from Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL) regarding the circumstances leading to the fire accident involving its tanker ferry LPG.
The incident took place last month at a toll plaza in the Kaushambi district of Uttar Pradesh. A video of the LPG tanker crashing into the toll plaza, triggering a massive fire in which at least five people were killed surfaced on social media on Friday.
Through a statement, the NHAI said that the video currently being circulated on social media is an old video that took place on 26 June.
"Preliminary findings indicated that the tanker allegedly collided with the bull nose of the divider before the toll plaza while attempting to manoeuvre the vehicle, resulting in LPG leakage and a fire that affected the tanker, toll plaza booths and the toll control room," it stated.
“Teams from NHAI, the District Administration, Police and Fire Services responded immediately, bringing the fire under control and ensuring that the injured were shifted to the hospital. The swift and coordinated response of all agencies helped avert a much larger disaster. In view of the incident, NHAI has issued a Show Cause Notice to IOCL, seeking an explanation regarding the circumstances leading to the accident and appropriate accountability,” the NHAI said.
It further urged all heavy vehicle drivers to maintain safe speeds, exercise utmost caution, and avoid driving under fatigue or drowsiness, especially during the early morning hours.
Concerning the road cave-in, the Authority stated, “Taking serious cognisance of the incident, Show Cause Notices have been issued to the concerned Project Director, Authority Engineer and EPC Contractor, while the Team Leader of the Authority Engineer and the Project Manager of the contractor have been suspended.”
While explaining the reasons for the road collapse, the NHAI on Thursday said that the incident had happened due to localised water stagnation following the rains as the cross-drainage system at the location was not operational.
"The drainage system at the location could be connected and commissioned because of the sustained resistance from residents," the Authority added.
A large portion of the expressway, which was inaugurated in April, sank on Tuesday. The incident was reported from Gogwan Jalalpur near Shamli in Uttar Pradesh.