Annoyed at police behaviour, divers halt rescue operations
Fatehgarh Sahib, August 1 : Private divers, led by good samaritan Ashu Malik, refused to carry out search operations today. Ashu and his team had played a key role in extricating the Punjab Roadways bus that plunged into the Bhakra canal in Sirhind yesterday.
Talking to The Tribune, Ashu alleged that the police had not provided sufficient fuel for their two-wheelers. “We worked round the clock to locate the bodies. The police, instead of recognising our services, misbehaved with us,” he alleged.
Ashu said they had met the Station House Officer of the Sirhind police station this morning and demanded fuel for their vehicles. They were provided only 7 litres of fuel against the required 15 litres. He said when he requested food for his team, the SHO refused to oblige. “In desperation, I threatened to halt the search operations. The SHO told me that he did not need our services,” Ashu said.
Claiming that the government had never paid a penny for the services rendered by his team, he said he had been taking loans from banks to pay his colleagues.
Ashu said they risked their lives while searching for bodies in gushing waters. Yet the authorities concerned had not bothered to provide monetary benefits to them. “I have been awarded 107 appreciation certificates by the state government. But will these help me make both ends meet,” he asked.
Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Hardevinder Pal Singh Sandhu, who is supervising the search operations, said that Ashu and his team members had had a dispute with another divers’ team.
He claimed the police had been providing assistance and the “necessary” diet to the divers. He claimed that the Deputy Commissioner had issued instructions to the department concerned to provide monetary assistance to the divers.
Case against driver; DC warns NH project head
Fatehgarh Sahib, August 1
Taking a serious note of reports on the broken railing at the bridge on the Bhakra canal in Sirhind, Deputy Commissioner DC) Arun Sekhri today wrote a warning letter to the general manager (technical) and project director, National Highway-1.
“You had already been informed (vide letter no 8851 dated 18.12.12) regarding the poor condition of railings on both sides of the overbridge at the Bhakra canal near the floating restaurant and were told to get it repaired. But nothing has been done so far. Make immediate arrangements to repair the berms and the railing, failing which you will be held responsible for any such accident in future.”
The police has registered a case against bus driver Surinder Singh for negligence, but the officials of the company responsible for the broken railing have been spared.
The DC said that teams of the NDRF were searching for the bodies. Officials of neighbouring districts had been requested to help in tracing the bodies.
He said so far four bodies had been found. Three bodies were yet to be identified. Anxious relatives of bus passengers were seen at the DC’s office and the Civil Hospital hoping to get word on their near and dear ones.
Driver & Conductor missing in canal
With no information yet about the fate of Driver Surinder Singh, & Conductor Raman Kumar of the bus that fell into the Bhakra canal yesterday, residents of Vaan Tara Singh village & Batala fear the worst.
Son of a small farmer, 32-year-old Surinder was living in a rented accommodation with his wife Karamjeet Kaur and three-year-old son Gurnoor Singh in the Chheharta area of Amritsar.
Balbir Singh, a village resident, described Surinder as an honest and hardworking man who would encourage the village youth to take up sports.amjeet said they had admitted their son to a nursery school recently. His father Partap Singh, who owns two acres of land, said: “My son was a huge support for the family. He used to earn Rs 7,000 per month as salary. Initially, a truck driver, he was employed by Punjab Roadways on contract five years ago.” Surinder’s elder brother Harjinder Singh is a farmer. But the family owns land across the border fence, which makes farming economically unviable.
Raman Kumar was a resident of the Shakurpura locality here. He was 22-year-old had got a job at the Amritsar depot of Punjab Roadways only eight months ago.
“We expected him home on Wednesday. At 11.41 am, we got a call from the Amritsar depot, informing us that that the bus accident,” said Raman Kumar’s mother. “I am not giving up hope yet,” she added as she left the room to pray for her son’s return.
NIIT lecturer among dead
Dr Viresh Kumar, whose body was taken out from the Bhakra canal yesterday, was to get married in November. A photo of his fiancé was recovered from his wallet. The victim’s father, Rajpal Sarswat, who came from Aligarh in Uttar Pradesh to claim the body lying at the Civil Hospital here, said Viresh was a lecturer at the NIIT, Jalandhar.
Source: Tribune India