Railway station wall collapses, use of poor material alleged- The New Indian Express

By Express News Service

BALASORE: More than 40 metre boundary wall around the railway platform at Gopinathpur village collapsed on Thursday, much to the chagrin of  Nilagiri residents. They met MP Pratap Chandra Sarangi blaming poor quality of construction material used by the contractor that led to the incident and sought an inquiry. 

They further demanded the matter be taken to the Divisional Railway Manager (DRM) of Kharagpur division and action against the contractor besides technical officers involved in the project.
Though no casualty was reported, locals said the remaining portion of the 100-metre wall is now a bigger risk as it has developed cracks.

The Ministry of Railways had earlier sanctioned `80 crore for the construction of the platform at Gopinathpur and Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw laid the foundation for the same on January 7 this year. Soon after the project began, locals alleged the contractor used poor quality material and had approached Sarangi. 

After being apprised of the complaints, Sarangi wrote to DRM of Kharagpur division who inspected the site on June 24 and ordered the contractor to do the work properly. But nothing changed. Ironically, just a few days before the incident, the contractor’s vehicle was seized by Nilagiri tehsildar Ases Kumar Naik for illegally using morrum for construction works. 

Contacted, section engineer of Works department, Balasore circle Ajit Prasad Mishra said he will visit the site and take necessary steps. Former MLA of Nilagiri, Chittaranjan Sarangi said, “I will write a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and request a CBI probe into the matter.” 

Two held for murder
Jharsuguda: Two persons were arrested by Jharsuguda police on Friday for allegedly hacking a scrap collector to death. The accused were identified as Pradip Makar (20) and Srikant Ping (22) of Durlaga village while the deceased Asraf Shaikh belonged to East Bardhaman in West Bengal. Jharsuguda SDPO Nirmal Mohapatra said on October 7, Shaikh and the accused duo had a fight after which the two hit him to death. They buried his body in the coal dust heap on the JSPL factory premises. Later police exhumed Shaikh’s decomposed body from the area and arrested the accused. The duo confessed to the crime during interrogation. 

<br /> BALASORE: More than 40 metre boundary wall around the railway platform at Gopinathpur village collapsed on Thursday, much to the chagrin of  Nilagiri residents. They met MP Pratap Chandra Sarangi blaming poor quality of construction material used by the contractor that led to the incident and sought an inquiry. </p> <p>They further demanded the matter be taken to the Divisional Railway Manager (DRM) of Kharagpur division and action against the contractor besides technical officers involved in the project.<br /> Though no casualty was reported, locals said the remaining portion of the 100-metre wall is now a bigger risk as it has developed cracks.</p> <p>The Ministry of Railways had earlier sanctioned `80 crore for the construction of the platform at Gopinathpur and Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw laid the foundation for the same on January 7 this year. Soon after the project began, locals alleged the contractor used poor quality material and had approached Sarangi. </p> <p>After being apprised of the complaints, Sarangi wrote to DRM of Kharagpur division who inspected the site on June 24 and ordered the contractor to do the work properly. But nothing changed. Ironically, just a few days before the incident, the contractor’s vehicle was seized by Nilagiri tehsildar Ases Kumar Naik for illegally using morrum for construction works. </p> <p>Contacted, section engineer of Works department, Balasore circle Ajit Prasad Mishra said he will visit the site and take necessary steps. Former MLA of Nilagiri, Chittaranjan Sarangi said, “I will write a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and request a CBI probe into the matter.” </p> <p>Two held for murder<br /> Jharsuguda: Two persons were arrested by Jharsuguda police on Friday for allegedly hacking a scrap collector to death. The accused were identified as Pradip Makar (20) and Srikant Ping (22) of Durlaga village while the deceased Asraf Shaikh belonged to East Bardhaman in West Bengal. Jharsuguda SDPO Nirmal Mohapatra said on October 7, Shaikh and the accused duo had a fight after which the two hit him to death. They buried his body in the coal dust heap on the JSPL factory premises. Later police exhumed Shaikh’s decomposed body from the area and arrested the accused. The duo confessed to the crime during interrogation. <br />