J-K’s Rajouri landslide
NEW DELHI: A 17-year-old girl died while being taken to hospital in Jammu and Kashmir’s Rajouri district after the vehicle carrying her remained stuck in mud for nearly three hours. The district administration has suspended a government engineer and ordered an inquiry into the incident.The girl, a resident of remote Methyani village, had fallen seriously ill on Friday and was being taken to Government Medical College (GMC), Rajouri, when the vehicle became stranded following a mudslide at Chak Methyani, officials told news agency PTI.Volunteers later managed to pull the vehicle out, but the girl’s condition deteriorated and she died while she was being taken to the hospital, according to officials.The incident occurred on the Chak Methyani-Panglar-Kotecharwal road, which serves as the only road link for several remote villages in the area. The road was washed away near Methyani during last year’s monsoon and had subsequently been restored temporarily.The same stretch was hit by another mudslide around two weeks ago, leaving the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) road unmotorable, officials said. According to the report submitted by the Additional Deputy Commissioner (ADC), Kotranka, the girl had been suffering from an illness for nearly a month and had previously been admitted to Government Medical College Hospital, Jammu. She was discharged around two weeks ago, but her condition worsened again, prompting her family to take her to GMC Rajouri.The ADC’s report said the blocked road resulted in a delay of nearly two to three hours. It also found that the stretch remained in “extremely poor condition” due to landslides and deep ditches, making it unfit for vehicular movement.The report further noted that residents of Narla Bamble, Kotecharwal and Panglar continued to face difficulties in transporting patients, food grains and fertilisers.The district administration said the executive engineer, PMGSY division Rajouri, had informed officials through an official WhatsApp group that the road had been restored and was “trafficable”. However, subsequent verification by the ADC found otherwise.Taking note of the report, district development commissioner (DDC) Rajouri Abhishek Sharma ordered the immediate suspension of the assistant executive engineer (AEE), PMGSY Sub-Division Kalakote, who was in charge of the road project, pending an inquiry.
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The DDC said the failure to restore the road despite repeated directions indicated “prima facie negligence and non-compliance with official instructions”.The executive engineer has also been asked to explain why disciplinary proceedings should not be initiated against him for allegedly misreporting the road’s status and failing to ensure its timely restoration. His salary has been withheld pending consideration of his explanation.The additional district development commissioner (ADDC), Rajouri, has been directed to conduct a detailed inquiry and submit a comprehensive report within seven days.
