Sitapur water tank collapse: Over a dozen govt staff face action
The construction agency and the agency that checked the quality of the construction have also been blacklisted. As per reports, the water tank collapsed in Chunka village in Mahmudabad area of Sitapur district. However, no casualties have been reported so far.
The locals said the tank had been supplying water to the village for the past two months and it was constructed at an estimated cost of ₹531.50 lakh ( ₹5.31 crore).
This is the second incident within a year in Sitapur district involving the collapse of a Jal Jeevan Mission water tank. Last year, a tank in Chitahala village of Maholi constituency had collapsed during its trial run, leading to similar allegations of poor construction and negligence.
BJP MLA from Mahmudabad, Asha Maurya, in a post on X said, 'Information was received about the collapse of a water tank built in Chunka village of Mahmudabad. The concerned officials had already been informed about the substandard work done under Jal Shakti Mission.'
'The result of negligence in work due to collusion of water corporation officials and contractors was seen today. Please take strict punitive action against the lax related officers and contractors,' she said.
A state government officer said the junior engineer and assistant engineer of Jal Nigam (rural), who were monitoring the construction of the tank, have been suspended. A departmental inquiry has been initiated against the executive engineer of Jal Nigam (rural), assistant engineer and junior engineer.
The assistant engineer and the junior engineer of the state drinking water and sanitation mission have been dismissed with immediate effect. Instructions have been given to remove the district in-charge of third-party inspection (TPI) who checked the quality of the construction with immediate effect.
A 5% liquidated damage penalty has been imposed on the construction agency as well. A high-level committee has been formed for the preliminary investigation of the case. The committee will consist of a chief engineer of Jal Nigam (rural), a chief engineer of the state drinking water and sanitation mission and a superintending engineer of the department. The committee has been directed to submit its report within three days.
The officer said, more than 16,000 tanks constructed to supply the water under Jal Jeevan Mission had been successfully tested. Out of 16,000 tanks, complaints of damage have been received regarding five tanks. In the case of tank damage, action has been taken against those responsible for it with immediate effect, he said. (With agency inputs)
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Hans India
18 minutes ago
- Hans India
BJP condemns house arrests of leaders amid temple controversy, patriotic march
Hyderabad: The Telangana unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has strongly condemned the house arrests of its State President N Ramchandra Rao and several other party leaders on Tuesday, calling the move undemocratic and politically motivated. The arrests were reportedly linked to a puja program at the Peddamma Temple in Banjara Hills, which was recently demolished by government and revenue officials, sparking widespread protests and demands for its reconstruction. Speaking from house arrest, Ramchandra Rao expressed shock over the police action. 'Earlier today, the police came to my residence and informed me that I am under house arrest. They said it was related to the Peddamma Temple issue. Local residents have been demanding its reconstruction and some Hindu organizations planned a puja at the site. I am surprised that the police are arresting me over programs linked to Hindu values, even though BJP is not directly involved,' he said. Rao also noted that several BJP corporators in Hyderabad were similarly detained and accused the Congress government of suppressing Hindu religious activities. Union Minister of State for Home Affairs, Bandi Sanjay Kumar, reacted sharply to the development, calling it an example of 'anarchy' in the state. 'What is wrong if Hindus go to the Peddamma Temple? Arresting peaceful Hindu groups and BJP workers is foolishness. The Congress government is clearly playing with Hindu sentiments for votes in the Jubilee Hills by-election,' he said, warning that the people of Telangana would soon deliver a fitting response. Senior BJP leaders, including State Vice Presidents Chinthala Ramachandra Reddy and NVVS Prabhakar, also condemned the arrests. 'The siege laid by police at the homes of BJP leaders to prevent participation in the temple program and the Har Ghar Tiranga march is a direct attack on democratic rights,' said Prabhakar. He added that the detention of BJP Mahila Morcha President Shilpa Reddy, BJYM State President Sevell Mahender, and other corporators was further proof of the Congress government's 'tyranny.' Mahila Morcha State President Mekala Shilpa Reddy criticized the police's preemptive detentions, calling them a 'stain on democracy.' She said the BJP Mahila Morcha had planned to support the Kumkumarchana program organized by Hindu groups at the temple site, and termed the obstruction of peaceful religious expression as 'foolish and undemocratic.' BJP MP DK Aruna echoed similar sentiments, accusing the Congress government of exposing its anti-democratic stance. 'Preventing BJP leaders from attending the Peddamma Temple program and the Har Ghar Tiranga march shows the extent of Congress's authoritarianism,' she said. BJP State Secretary Kasam Venkateswarlu condemned the police action, stating, 'If Hindus worship, there is lathicharge and house arrest. But those who demolished the temple are untouched. Is this Congress's idea of justice?' He warned that the public would not tolerate such actions and predicted the downfall of the Revanth Reddy-led government. Party spokesperson and media in-charge N V Subhash demanded the immediate release of Ramchandra Rao and other detained leaders. 'Preventing participation in Har Ghar Tiranga is a direct attack on democracy. The Congress government is following the same path as the previous BRS regime, which also tried to silence opposition voices through illegal arrests,' he said. Subhash emphasized that the Har Ghar Tiranga program is a patriotic initiative honoring the national flag and freedom fighters, and not a protest against the government. Rani Rudrama, BJP State Spokesperson and Har Ghar Tiranga Yatra Committee Member, condemned the arrests, stating, 'Democracy is being abolished under Congress rule. Who gave this government the right to violate the rights of opposition leaders?' The BJP has vowed to continue its protest against what it calls the Congress government's suppression of democratic and religious freedoms, asserting that the people of Telangana are watching and will respond decisively.
Hindustan Times
18 minutes ago
- Hindustan Times
How Fatehpur mausoleum became a flashpoint in less than a week
KANPUR In less than a week, the Fatehpur mausoleum has turned into a centre of communal confrontation after a body called the Math-Mandir Sangharsh Samiti, unheard of until last Thursday, claimed that the structure was originally a Thakurdwara temple. The controversy comes against the backdrop of a property dispute between a Thakur family and a Muslim healer. Supporters of Hindu organisations gather near an old tomb, claiming it is a temple and demanding to offer prayers, at Abu Nagar, in Fatehpur on Monday. (ANI Video Grab) The property, measuring 10 bighas and 17 biswas, as per land records, includes within it the mausoleum of Nawab Abdus Samad. On Monday, members of Hindu right-wing outfits allegedly vandalised the structure, seeking to offer prayers there and claiming that a temple had previously existed at the site. The Samiti had set a deadline of August 11 to 'rightfully reclaim' the structure. The memorandum submitted to the DM to this effect carried signatures of leaders from the BJP, Hindu Mahasabha, Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and Bajrang Dal. A purported video of BJP city president Mukhlal Pal, which could not be independently verified, was in circulation on Sunday, appealing to people to gather at the site in Abu Nagar — in the heart of the city — for the 'beautification, expansion, and performance of religious rituals' at the Thakurdwara temple. The next day, hundreds gathered at the mausoleum defying police security and stormed the structure, damaged graves, seeking to offer prayers. The mob performed rituals inside, live-streaming them on social media, and hoisted a saffron flag atop the mausoleum. As tension prevailed in the area, police contingents from several areas, including Kotwali, Radhanagar, Malwan and Husainganj, were deployed to maintain law and order. Ten named along with 150 unnamed persons were booked for causing communal tension, according to the FIR lodged by a police sub-inspector. Those named were Dharmendra Singh (jansevak, co-convenor, Bajrang Dal, Fatehpur), Abhishek Shukla (BJP Mandal Prabhari, Haswa), Ajay Singh (BJP, Zila Panchayat member), Devnath Dhakde (former president BJP Anusuchit Jati Morcha), Vinay Tiwari (BJP municipal councillor), Pushpraj Patel (general secretary, BJP Fatehpur), Rithik Pal (former BJP municipal councillor, lawyer), Prasoon Tiwari (general secretary, BJYM), Pappu Chauhan (SP) and Manoj Trivedi, regional vice president, Hindu Mahasabha. 'It is baffling that a body (Sangharsh Samiti) born only last week created such a big issue out of a non-issue. No one had even heard of it before,' said KP Singh, a political observer in Fatehpur. Ainul Khan, a local Muslim leader, said: 'What the right-wingers did was expected. But why did Pappu Singh Chauhan, a local SP leader, join them?.' Chauhan, an SP aspirant from the Hussainganj Assembly seat, was suspended by the party on Tuesday, and he called SP an 'anti-Hindu party' in his resignation post suspension. While Mukhlal Pal appeared in a separate video on Tuesday calling for peace, photographs of Chauhan with the party's top leadership continued to circulate on social media. 'Never before last week had anyone in Fatehpur heard of the mausoleum being described as a temple,' said Shadab Khan, a local municipal councillor. The 10-bigha-plus land on which the maqbara stands was bought by Ram Naresh Singh, a former landlord, in 1970. Before that, the property — listed as a garden — was divided by a court in 1926 between the families of Vishnuman Singh, the original owner. The records from that period already mention the mausoleum. Those familiar with the property, considered prime and coveted, said the dispute began after Ram Naresh Singh's death in 2007. Mohammad Anees, a Muslim healer residing on the property, obtained an ex parte judgment in his favour in 2011, and within a year, the land was recorded in his name. Vijay Pratap Singh, Ram Naresh's son who lives in Kanpur, filed a restoration case in the civil court, and the legal battle continues. 'The issue is between me and Anees, and we are fighting it in court. Let the court decide, and I will abide by its verdict,' Singh said, adding that he would meet the district magistrate over the violence. Ajay Bhadauria, a journalist in Fatehpur, said: 'Whether the structure is a temple or a mausoleum is for the archaeological department to determine. The entire game revolves around nearly 13 bighas of land linked to the so-called mausoleum. Land mafias from both communities are attempting to grab it.' A day after the violence and vandalism, the district administration repaired the structure and the graves on Tuesday. Security has since been upgraded to a multi-layered cordon, with senior police officers stationed at the site. SP (Fatehpur) Anoop Kumar Singh said all measures to maintain peace were in place and efforts were underway to arrest the named accused.
Hindustan Times
18 minutes ago
- Hindustan Times
Four Gandhis, one voice: Supreme Court stray dogs in Delhi-NCR order draws rare unity
In a rare show of political unanimity, four members of the Gandhi family – Rahul Gandhi, his sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, their cousin Varun Gandhi and his mother Maneka Gandhi – expressed their concerns over the Supreme Court's directive to remove stray dogs from the streets of Delhi-NCR. (Left) LoP in the Lok Sabha and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi with party MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra; Ex-BJP MPs Maneka Gandhi and Varun Gandhi.(PTI file) Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi called the order a 'step back from decades of humane, science-backed policy'. In a post on X, the Congress leader said, 'Blanket removals are cruel, shortsighted and strip us of compassion.' 'These voiceless souls are not 'problems' to be erased,' Rahul Gandhi wrote, adding, 'Shelters, sterilisation, vaccination and community care can keep streets safe — without cruelty… We can ensure public safety and animal welfare go hand in hand.' Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said, 'The moving of all the city's stray dogs to shelters within a matter of weeks is going to result in horrendously inhumane treatment of them. Enough shelters do not even exist to take them on.' 'Dogs are the most beautiful creatures who do not deserve this kind of cruelty,' she said, adding that animals in urban areas are already subjected to ill treatment. 'Surely there is a better way to manage the situation and a humane way can be found in which these innocent animals are looked after and kept safe as well.' Former BJP Lok Sabha MP Varun Gandhi described the apex court directive 'institutionalisation of cruelty' and 'a harbinger of a legal structure that seeks to punish those who cannot fend for themselves'. 'How long before this extends to stray cows, the underprivileged and unauthorised settlements… Nations face deeper moral crises when they step away from empathy,' he posted on X. Former Union minister and animal rights activist Maneka Gandhi called the order 'impractical', 'financially unviable' and 'potentially harmful' to the region's ecological balance. 'This judgment is a suo motu case, which means nobody complained; the judge took it up on his own… Now, if this order is to be followed, it would mean rounding up three lakh dogs in Delhi and placing them in centres,' she said, estimating the need for '1,000–2,000 centres' and costs of 'at least ₹4–5 crore' to comply. She also claimed the order was based on a report that incorrectly linked a child's death to a dog attack. A bench of Justices JB Pardiwala and R Mahadevan noted that there was an 'extremely grim' situation due to stray dog bites resulting in rabies, particularly among children. The issue has sparked an intense debate, especially on social media, with those supporting the apex court's Monday directive citing the risk of rabies and inconvenience caused to residents by stray dogs, while the critics are calling it impractical and inhumane.
