2 more FIRs lodged against NHAI, construction firm

Two more FIRs were lodged against the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) and Gawar construction company last evening for alleged negligence in the road work being carried out in Shimla. The cases were registered on the complaints of the residents of Mathu Colony located on the road leading to Chamiyana who approached the police after a multi-storey building collapsed in the area.

According to reports, local residents, who filed two separate complaints in Dhalli police station, alleged that their buildings had been affected due to the negligent and unscientific construction work being done by the NHAI and Gawar construction company, which were working on a project to widen the Kaithlighat-Shakral road in Shimla to four lanes.

The residents alleged that their houses were on the verge of collapsing due to the ongoing construction work and the company and the NHAI had taken no corrective action despite repeated warnings over the past year about the structural risk to their houses. The police registered cases against the NHAI and the company and started an investigation.

Earlier also, the NHAI and Gawar company were booked for unscientific and negligent construction work after Ranjana Verma, owner of a multi-storey building that collapsed at Bhattakuffer on Monday, filed a complaint. The controversy broke out when an NHAI official was allegedly assualted at the site and later an FIR was registered against Rural Development and Panchayati Raj Minister Anirudh Singh for allegedly thrashing him. NHAI officials as well as Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadlkari had called for stern action in the matter. Gadkari had written a letter as well as spoken to Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu on the incident.

Himachal Tribune