Shimla landslide: Yet another complaint against NHAI, this time by Himachal forest dept
Two more cases were filed by local residents against NHAI officials for wrongful restraint, endangering life or personal safety of others, intentional hurt and criminal liability — one each by a group of locals and a gram panchayat member.
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A multi-storey building Monday collapsed and cracks appeared in other residential structures in Shimla. (Screengrab/Express Photo)The Himachal Pradesh forest department Saturday filed a police complaint against the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI), accusing it of negligence leading to a massive landslide on the Kaithlighat-Dhalli road stretch in the suburbs of Shimla city on June 30.
This is the fourth complaint filed against the road authority in Shimla in the last one week.
A five-storey building collapsed in the landslide on Monday. Nearly 8,550 square metres of protected land was damaged and trees were uprooted, causing an estimated Rs 2.14 crore loss along the under-construction four-lane Dhalli road.
The complaint, filed by forest officer Ajeet Kumar, followed an inquiry conducted by the forest department, which pinned the negligent and faulty execution of road-cutting work by the NHAI as the main cause of the landslide. The complaint said the calamity could have been avoided if the four-lane road construction was executed after taking due precautions and safety measures.
A case has been registered under Sections 32 and 33 of the Indian Forest Act for offences related to protected areas and Section 324 (5) of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita for mischief causing damage to property, police said.
Earlier, owner of the collapsed building, Ranjana Verma, had registered a case against the NHAI and the company involved in the four-lane road project for endangering life and causing damage to property.
Two more cases were filed by local residents against NHAI officials for wrongful restraint, endangering life or personal safety of others, intentional hurt and criminal liability — one each by a group of locals and a gram panchayat member.
Notably, all four cases have been registered after Panchayati Raj Minister Anirudh Singh, who is also the local MLA from Kasumpti where the collapse took place, was booked based on a complaint from NHAI employees. In the complaint, NHAI employee Achal Jindal had alleged that Singh, who had been on a visit to inspect the building collapse site, summoned him and his site engineer Yogesh Verma and assaulted them.
Singh had denied the allegations, saying that “the FIR does not mean that I am guilty.”
(With PTI inputs)
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