In a strong move against negligence, the Madhya Pradesh government on Saturday suspended seven engineers of the Public Works Department (PWD), including two chief engineers, for their role in the faulty design of a new rail overbridge in Bhopal's Aishbagh area. In addition, a departmental inquiry has been ordered against a retired senior engineer believed to be associated with the project. The action follows public outrage over the bridge's unusual 90-degree turn, which raised serious safety and design concerns.
Chief Minister Mohan Yadav confirmed that the engineers were suspended with immediate effect. "I took cognizance of the serious negligence in the construction of Aishbagh ROB and ordered an inquiry. On the basis of the inquiry report, action has been taken against eight PWD engineers," Chief Minister Mohan Yadav stated on X.
The construction agency and design consultant have been blacklisted, and a committee has been formed to make necessary improvements in the ROB, the chief minister said. "The ROB will be inaugurated only after improvements are made," he added.
Action taken against these eight engineers:
- GP Verma – Chief Engineer
- Sanjay Khande – Chief Engineer
- Javed Shakeel – Executive Engineer
- Shabana Rajak – Executive Engineer (Design)
- Sonal Saxena – Assistant Engineer (Design)
- Umashankar Mishra – Sub Engineer
- Ravi Shukla – Sub Engineer
- MP Singh – Retired Superintending Engineer
MP govt formed committee
Last week, the Public Works Department (PWD) of Madhya Pradesh had formed a committee to suggest a solution after the newly constructed railway overbridge with a 90-degree turn became the subject of criticism and much ridicule. Built at Rs 18 crore, the bridge near the Aishbagh stadium was yet to be inaugurated. Questions were raised over its design after it was noticed that vehicles would find it difficult to negotiate its unusual 90-degree turn. PWD minister Rakesh Singh had said a team of the National Highway Authority (NHAI), which investigated the matter, found that the strange design was adopted due to the unavailability of land.