BHUBANESWAR: The state government on Thursday suspended an assistant engineer of the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) drainage division for alleged lapses in connection with the drowning of a 10-year-old boy who was swept away in a swelling drain in Unit-III area of the city two days back.
Housing and Urban Development (H&UD) department officials said based on the inquiry report received from BMC, assistant engineer Santosh Kumar Das has been suspended and departmental disciplinary action initiated against him. Earlier, H&UD Minister Dr Krushna Chandra Mohapatra had assured that action would be initiated in the matter after examining the inquiry report submitted by the BMC.
Mayor Sulochana Das, who admitted that no barricading had been done at the mishap site, tried to pass the buck saying the BMC inquiry report has also mentioned about the role of the then drainage division head. “Though we don’t want to shift the blame to anyone, the report mentions about him (the then drain division head),” she told mediapersons. Das said the barricading work at vulnerable sites has been expedited for monsoon.
On Tuesday, 10-year-old Abubakar Saha went near the drain to retrieve a balloon and was swept away in the swelling stormwater channel in Unit-III. The boy was spotted and rescued by locals near Oscar City under Laxmisagar, around 3 km from the mishap spot. He was rushed to the Capital Hospital but was pronounced dead.
Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi had extended condolences to the family of the boy and announced Rs 4 lakh ex gratia to the next of his kin from the State Disaster Response Fund. The H&UD minister visited the mishap site on Wednesday and sought a report from BMC.
On the day, Mohapatra chaired a high-level review meeting and instructed the department officials to prevent artificial flooding in urban areas and give maximum importance to drainage system.
Reviewing various plans of the department, the minister directed officials to give priority to urban development. He also directed to solve waterlogging and drainage problems in cities on a priority basis.