Garhwal Post Bureau
Tharali/Dehradun, 6 Jun: During today’s Shaurya Mahotsav at Tharali in Chamoli district, Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami announced that the government will recover the financial losses incurred due to the collapse of the under‑construction Bailey bridge from the contractor responsible for the construction. The modular Bailey bridge over the Pranmati River, part of the Dungri–Ratgaon road, suddenly caved in on Wednesday, prompting swift administrative action.
CM Dhami, who was addressing the gathering at the Shaurya Mahotsav today in Tharali, announced that he has taken immediate cognisance of the matter upon receiving reports and on his direction three Public Works Department (PWD) engineers were suspended without delay. He warned that any officer or employee found negligent in their duties, who ignored public welfare or was involved in corruption, would not be spared. He further emphasised that the financial loss faced by the government as a result of the collapse would be recovered from the contractor in charge.
It may be recalled that PWD Secretary Pankaj Kumar Pandey had yesterday issued orders regarding suspension of Executive Engineer Dinesh Mohan Gupta and Assistant Engineer Akash Hundia from the Tharali Construction Division, as well as Executive Engineer Naveen Lal from the Karnaprayag Division. The suspended engineers have been attached to the Chief Engineer’s office in Pauri and would face disciplinary proceedings under major‑penalty regulations. An inquiry has also been ordered at the government level to determine the cause of the failure and to ensure accountability.
It may also be reminded here that the locals had raised concerns over technical flaws in the project soon after fissures began appearing in the 60 metres span. With the structure collapsing barely a day after those alerts, voices demanding answers over administrative negligence grew louder. The CM has reiterated that recovery action would be initiated against the contractor and that stringent measures were underway to prevent such tragedies in future infrastructure projects across the state.
