Hours after bus accident, Pandiyan divested of transport secretary’s post

The Uttarakhand government on Thursday removed D Senthil Pandiyan from the post of transport secretary and handed over the charge to Garhwal commissioner Shailesh Bagoli, the move coming hours after a bus plunged into a gorge in Tehri district killing 14 people and leaving 17 others.

Earlier, on July 1, as many as 48 people were killed near Dhumakot in neighbouring Pauri district when an overloaded bus fell into a gorge.

In a reshuffle carried out Thursday evening, the government also appointed Bagoli as chief executive officer (CEO), Smart City. The post was with Dilip Jawalkar.

Jawalkar will continue to hold charge as tourism secretary. He has also been given additional charge as acting secretary, information department.

Bagoli will continue to dispense his duties as Garhwal commissioner.

Pandiyan will continue with his earlier portfolios in agriculture and education, departments.

Manisha Panwar, principal secretary was relieved from Panchayati Raj, which was handed over to Pankaj Kumar Pandey, who was relieved from his duty in information department. Dipender Kumar Chaudhary, additional secretary urban development, was given additional charge of director, general information.

Meanwhile Ashish Joshi, district magistrate Chamoli, has been appointed as additional secretary, agriculture and horticulture. DM Champawat, Iqbal Ahmad is now additional secretary, higher education. Secretary revenue, Surendra Narayan Pandey was transferred as DM Champawat. DM Almora, Eva Ashish Shrivastava was appointed as additional secretary administration.

Nitin Singh Bhadauria, Haldwani mukhya nagar adhikari, has been transferred as DM Almora. Swati S Bhadauria, chief development officer, Haridwar, has been transferred as DM Chamoli. Additional secretary Ram Vilas Yadav was relieved from agriculture department. DM Haridwar, Deepak Rawat, was given additional charge of vice president of Haridwar Development Authority.