LUCKNOW: A contractor engaged by the forest department climbed atop a water tank in the zoo compound on Sunday noon. Besides police and fire department personnel, a large crowd gathered around the water tank during the scene.
Since it was a Sunday, there was high footfall in the zoo. In his late 40s, Brijendra Kumar
Singh was upset because his payment had allegedly not been cleared by the forest department for years. Pleading with the police to get him his due, he threatened to jump from the tank.
A resident of
Vishal Khand in Gomtinagar, it took a lot of convincing for Singh to come down. He told the police that he had been engaged by
Piyush Srivastava, a forest department employee, for different tasks in the zoo. Since 2013, he had cleared drains several times and also shredded tree branches as ordered. However, he said, his pending payment amounted to Rs 13 lakh.
District forest officer
Manoj Sonkar said a budget is provided to zoo every financial year and they are the ones who deal with contractors. Additional SP Lucknow (east)
Sarvesh Kumar Mishra said Singh had been asked to give bills so that the matter could be pursued.
Representative image 
