Noida sacks engineer, files police complaint

Noida: The Noida Authority on Friday terminated the services of a junior engineer and filed a police complaint against the private contractor for negligence after the death of two labourers in Salarpur.
RK Mishra, additional CEO at the Authority, said the contract for laying sewer pipes under DSC Road in Salarpur had been awarded to one Hariom Singh on March 5. “The contractor had engaged a few labourers for the job and the work started on April 25. The contractor has violated the norms by engaging workers at night,” he said.
A Noida Authority team had rushed to the spot after getting information that two workers had been buried under soil. Mishra said that the two had entered into a 12ft-deep ditch and were laying sewer pipes when water from a drain gushed in. The soil became loose and the walls of the ditch collapsed. “There is a drain along DSC Road from where the water gushed into the ditch. The two labourers — Hamid and Aslam — were buried alive. Other workers tried to rescue them, but fled later,” he said.
Mishra said Noida Authority had filed a complaint against the private contractor at Sector 39 police station. “No contractor should carry out any development work after 5.30pm. Why were the workers inside the ditch at 9pm? We have directed officials to conduct an enforcement exercise under which all construction sites will be inspected. We have also terminated the services of junior engineer Pawan Kumar for dereliction of duty,” he said.
Hariom, the contractor, has been blacklisted and will not be engaged in any other development work of the Authority in the future. The Authority is yet to announce any compensation for the workers’ families. Officials said contractual workers did not directly come under the purview of the Authority.