Auto driver death: BJP calls out AAP on its claims of improving roads; PWD says enquiry on

The BJP delegation demanded that the AAP Delhi government give a compensation of Rs 1 crore to his kin of the deceased auto driver.

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Ajit Sharma was pulled out from a waterlogged ditch in Harsh Vihar on Friday (Express Photo)

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The Public Works Department (PWD) Saturday said it will enquire into the “laxity on part of the contractor” and take appropriate action following the death of 51-year-old auto driver Ajit Sharma, who drowned in a water-filled pit at Harsh Vihar a day earlier.

“The Delhi government has taken cognizance of the incident… The responsibility to maintain these roads as per prescribed safety standards lies with the contractor assigned to the road. The government will enquire into the laxity on part of the contractor and take appropriate action. At departmental level, the PWD Minister has also given directions for strictest possible action against officials found guilty… As an immediate measure, Delhi government is enforcing a set of upgraded safety norms…,” said a statement from the office of PWD minister.

Also read | Auto driver drowns in waterlogged ditch in NE Delhi: Why were there not enough barriers, ask kin

Meanwhile, the BJP demanded action against officials whose “negligence” allegedly led to Sharma’s death. After meeting Sharma’s family and offering financial assistance, a delegation led by Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva, and including Northeast Delhi BJP MP Manoj Tiwari, demanded that the Delhi government give compensation Rs 1 crore to his kin.

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“The Arvind Kejriwal government has continuously claimed to have improved the condition of Delhi’s roads but the death of an auto driver due to drowning in an open pit in Harsh Vihar has exposed its negligence as well as these claims,” Sachdeva alleged.

“It is regrettable that even after such a big accident, no minister of the Delhi government considered it necessary to meet the victim’s family… Even today, the Chief Minister has gone to Gwalior on a political tour,” he added.

Tiwari alleged that the AAP government had never paid attention to the development of the Northeast parliamentary constituency in the last nine years.

“Yesterday’s accident shows the callousness with which the Public Works Department of the Delhi government works… action should be taken against the PWD officials responsible for it,” he demanded.

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According to police, they had received a PCR call regarding the incident around 3.30 pm. DCP (Northeast) Joy Tirkey had said Friday, “The ditch was dug up near an under-construction-flyover and had filled up with rainwater.” He had added that prima facie it seemed the victim had driven into the ditch without realising it was deep and accidentally drowned.

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