Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has said Muradnagar-like incidents occurred because of poor monitoring of civic projects by officials and warned that the National Security Act would be invoked against those found guilty in investigation, an official release said.
The CM also said the cost of the damage would be recovered from the contractor and the engineer.
Twenty-five people had died after the roof of a crematorium collapsed in Ghaziabad’s Muradnagar area on Sunday, leading to a public outcry over the quality of the material used in the project, which was completed only a couple of months ago.
“The CM has also said that the cost of the damage would be recovered from the guilty,” said a senior official at the Chief Minister Information Campus.
At a review meeting on Monday, the CM said such incidents were the result of poor monitoring of civil projects by senior officials and pulled up the District Magistrate of Ghaziabad and Meerut Commissioner on why the physical examination of the project was not conducted when clear orders were given last September that every project above ₹50 lakh should be physically verified. A task force was also formed to monitor the quality of projects.
Apart from an ex-gratia compensation of Rs 10 lakh each to the deceased, the CM also announced that the homeless among the affected would be provided with a roof under government schemes.
The National Human Rights Commission sent a notice to the Uttar Pradesh government on the Muradnagar mishap and sought a detailed report in four weeks.
At the district level, the process of blacklisting contractor Ajay Tyagi, who was arrested late on Monday night, started. On Tuesday, his associate Sanjay Garg was also arrested and both were sent to 14-day judicial custody by a local court. Police sources said Tyagi had admitted that he gave commission to civic officials.
When Tyagi was taken to the district hospital for medical investigation, a slipper was hurled at him by a woman who lost her husband in the incident.
District Magistrate Ajay Shankar Pandey visited Muradnagar on Tuesday and directed officials to look into the needs of those affected.
The Opposition has been taking the government to task on the incident. Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav had on Monday alleged that the roof was made of sand.
