Axe Falls On Engineer After BMC Blames Drainage Division For Boy’s Death In Bhubaneswar

Bhubaneswar: An assistant engineer of Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) drainage division has been placed under suspension for alleged lapses in connection with the drowning of a 10-year-old boy after being swept away in a drain in Bhubaneswar.

The action followed a report by the civic body, which held the division responsible for the death of Abubakar Saha.

Housing and Urban Development (H&UD) department officials on Thursday said assistant engineer Santosh Kumar Das has been suspended based on the inquiry report and departmental disciplinary action initiated against him. The report mentioned that the drain where the incident took place did not have barricades, resulting in the accident. It also included details about the current situation of open drains in the city and the steps being taken to cover them.

This came a day after H&UD Minister Krushna Chandra Mohapatra visited the mishap spot and assured of action within 7 days after examining the inquiry report submitted by the BMC. He also 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.

“We have also expedited the work to identify and cover the open drains. Barricading work at vulnerable sites is also being done on a war footing,” city mayor Sulochana Das told reporters.

The city has natural drain spanning over 70 km and secondary drain network of about 400 km.

The Mayor 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 added.

On Tuesday, the boy slipped and was swept away while trying to retrieve a balloon from the swelling storm water channel in Unit 3 area. He was later found near Oscar City locality under Laxmi Sagar, around 3 km from the mishap spot. He was rushed to the Capital Hospital but he had succumbed by then.

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 the kin of the deceased from the State Disaster Response Fund.