Lekhpal suspended for Shahberi building collapse

GREATER NOIDA: A lekhpal (village accountant) was suspended in connection with the Shahberi building collapse last month in which nine persons were killed. The move comes after an internal investigation indicted lekhpal Rajveer Singh for his complicity in the development of unauthorised structures in Shahberi. The district administration has also filed a complaint against Singh at Bisrakh police station.
Anjani Kumar, SDM, Dadri, issued a suspension letter of the lekhpal. Singh was the designated officer in Shahberi and he was responsible to make site visits and check the construction of properties. The investigation, however, found that there were 27 multi-storey building on plot number 205 which were developed without a check.

The construction works of some projects have been completed while others are under construction. These illegal constructions have mushroomed in past four years. These freehold land were developed by some colonizers as residential group housing societies. The lekhpal did not share any information about their development to the higher authorities.

“Prima facie, it appears the lekhpal was complicit with the development of illegal properties in Shahberi which puts a question mark on execution of work by a government servant. Hence he is suspended,” the letter read.

Further investigation also found that there were some unauthorised shops of tyre repair in the neighbourhood. The lekhpal also did not take any action in removing the unauthorised shops. “The lekhpal, rather facilitated the encroachers in getting undue advantage of the situation,” the letter states. Akhilesh Tripathi, SHO, Bisrakh police station, said he has not received the complaint yet. “We will register a case once I get the complaint,” he said.