Meghalaya: Retaining wall of PA Sangma stadium collapses; magisterial probe begins, MDC Bernard Marak files FIR

Once the statement of the fact is clearer, action will be taken again the negligent parties, said DC West Garo Hills

A magisterial investigation has been ordered into the incident involving the collapse of a retaining wall of the compound of the PA Sangma stadium at Dakopgre, Tura in Meghalaya’s West Garo Hills and once the statement of the fact is clearer, action will be taken again the negligent parties, said DC West Garo Hills Jagdish Chelani.

“On receiving information about the collapse of the retaining wall of the compound of the PA Sangma stadium, we ordered a magisterial enquiry and my assistant commissioner is investigating the matter. Once the statement of the fact is much clearer, we will be able to commission and take action against the negligence parties,” DC Chelani told Northeast Live.

DC Chelani informed that no human casualty or property damage has been reported till now. Responding to the media reports claiming six cars has been damaged, DC Chelani said that it has not been verified yet.

The path where the debris has fallen off has been cordoned off and efforts for removing the debris from the path are underway to clear the road for normal traffic to move. It may take 24 hours, said DC Chelani.

He further stated that the remaining part of the retaining wall will also be dismantled so that no untoward incident happened in the area.

Tura MP, Agatha Kongkal Sangma who is also the daughter of political stalwart P. A. Sangma, whose name was given to the stadium, condemned the incident and said that it was fortunate that nobody was injured.

Talking to Northeast Live, Agatha Kongkal Sangma said, “I have spoken to the contractors (Badri Rai and Company (BRC) to see what is happening and to assess the ground reality at the P. A Sangma stadium. The government has already sent concerned officers to inspect the matter and take action. The government is already working on ensuring that such devastating incident does not happen.”

She also said, “Since we are having excessive rain and most part of Tura and Garo Hills are flooded in this time. So this may has happened because of this”

Tura MDC and vice-president of Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) Meghalaya, Bernard N Marak has filed an FIR against the contractor of the P.A. Sangma stadium at the Tura Out Post for its shoddy and cheap standard work which has led to its collapse before the completion of the project. He also requested to book the people responsible for the collapse of the stadium under appropriate sections.

“The collapse of the half completed stadium has caused dire threat to lives of the people living around it leading to huge damage to their personal properties. It is a clear sign of nepotism, corruption and cheating the people of public fund. This project involves huge sum of money from the Centre government (Minority Affairs),” Marak added in his FIR.

Talking to Northeast Live, Bernard Marak said, “I think there was no proper foundation. The roads which was used and the width of the wall is not as per the load which has been put up here. There has to be proper investigation and strong action has to be taken if this work has not been done as per the specifications.”

The wall of the P A Sangma Sports Complex collapsed this morning within months of its inauguration. The wall is said to have collapsed as it could not withstand the mudslide triggered by incessant rain that the state has been receiving.

This has raised questions about the construction quality and also about the credibility of the contractor.

It may be mentioned here that the inauguration of the stadium had also led to a row between the Centre and the Conrad Sangma-led Meghalaya government.

Also Read: Portion of under construction PA Sangma Stadium in Tura collapses. Poor construction quality exposed?

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