Himachal Pradesh High Court has taken serious note of non-compliance of its orders by the Himachal Pradesh Public Works Department (PWD) Division, Executive Engineer, Dharampur in district Mandi.

The court has directed the Engineer-in-Chief to suspend him forthwith.

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A Division Bench, comprising Chief Justice M S Ramachandra Rao and Justice Ajay Mohan Goel, passed this order on a petition filed by Shashikant.

As per the petitioner a retaining wall as well as Industrial Training Institute (ITI) is being constructed by the PWD, at village Sarkan, tehsil Dharampur in Mandi district and the construction work is being executed by the Unipro Techno Infrastructure Pvt. Ltd.

It has been alleged that said Construction Company has dumped muck near the house of the petitioner.

The matter was brought to the notice of authorities time and again that there is imminent danger to his house due to illegal muck dumping.

After heavy rainfall on 24 June 2023, the retaining wall of the under-construction ITI building collapsed and settled just a few feet above the house of the petitioner and causing danger to his house.

The petitioner ran from pillar to post, however, the authorities have not taken any concrete action in the matter.

During the last date of hearing on 18 July, 2023, the Executive Engineer, Dharampur, who was present in the Court, assured the Court that all measures will be taken to prevent damage to the petitioner’s house at the earliest.

But during the course of the hearing, the Court found that no concrete steps have been taken by the Executive Engineer, Dharampur, to protect the house of the petitioner between the last date of the hearing and till date.

The Court has directed the Engineer-in-Chief, HP PWD, to place the EE under suspension forthwith, for negligence in not taking steps when there is imminent danger to petitioner’s house from falling rocks in view of continuing rain.

The Court further directed the Engineer-in-Chief to immediately authorize an appropriate officer to take immediate steps to protect the house of the petitioner and prevent damage to it.