City Briefs

Ward officers to be held responsible for pothole casualties
The state government announced on Tuesday that ward officers too,apart from contractors,will be held responsible for injury or death caused by open trenches dug for infrastructure projects. Minister of State for Urban Development Bhaskar Jadhav,while replying to a question raised in the Legislative Assembly by Gopal Shetty (BJP MLA from Borivali) and 27 others,said though the municipal corporation had framed directives on security measures,there were instances of negligence,resulting in death. He cited two such instances,of Pattamal Nityanand Goswami who died in a trench dug for laying a water main in Wadala on January 5 and an unknown person who was found dead in a trench in Mulund on January 12.