Patna July 5 (IANS) In response to the frequent bridge collapses in the state, the Nitish Kumar-led Bihar government suspended 17 engineers on Friday.

The decision was announced by Chaitanya Prasad, Additional Chief Secretary in the Water Resources Department, and Deepak Kumar Singh, Additional Chief Secretary in the Rural Works Department, who emphasised the state government’s seriousness about the issue.

Out of the 17 suspended engineers, 11 are from the Water Resources Department, including executive engineers Amit Anand and Kumar Brijesh; assistant engineers Raj Kumar, Chandramohan Jha, Simran Anand, and Neha Rani; and junior engineers Mohammad Majeed, Ravi Kumar Rajneesh, Rafi-Ul-Hoda Ansari, Ratnesh Gautam, and Prabhat Ranjan.

Additionally, six engineers from the Rural Works Department have also been suspended, including executive engineers Anjani Kumar and Ashutosh Kumar Ranjan; junior engineers Virendra Prasad and Manish Kumar, and two others.

“Nine bridges collapsed in different districts recently, six of which were very old while three were under construction. On July 3 and 4, six culverts built on the Chhadi and Gandaki Rivers collapsed in Siwan and Saran districts,” said Chaitanya Prasad.

“Action is being taken against the contractors, including initiating the blacklisting process to prevent them from being allotted any future work. Recovery of payments made to the contractors is underway, while the pending payments to all the contractors have been stopped for now,” Prasad added.

Deepak Kumar Singh said: “Three culverts under the Rural Works Department have been damaged. A four-member team led by chief engineer Nirmal Kumar was formed to investigate the matter. Based on its report, six engineers of the department have been suspended.”

–IANS

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Guwahati, July 5 (IANS) The current flood situation in Assam has further deteriorated due to relentless rain with over 24.20 lakh people have been affected in 30 of the state’s 35 districts, officials said on Friday.

However, according to Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA) officials, no death due to flood and landslides was reported on Friday.

Till Thursday 52 people, including women, had died due to floods this year in different districts.

The officials said that the flood also submerged over 63,490 hectares of crop areas in 3,518 villages under 30 districts while over 15.28 lakh domestic animals were also badly affected.

The Brahmaputra is flowing above the danger level at Neamatighat, Goalpara, Guwahati, and Dhubri while the Burhidihing, Dikhou, Disang, Dhansiri, Jia-Bharali, Kopili, Barak, Katakhal, Kushiyara river waters are flowing danger level in many places.

To provide shelter for flood-affected over 47,000 men, women and children, the state government has opened around 612 relief camps, while 339 more relief distribution centres are also functioning in different districts.

Besides various NGOs, teams of the National and State Disaster Response Forces have also been deployed for rescue and relief operations.

Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma is regularly reviewing the flood in the state.

After visiting several areas of Dibrugarh district, he said that power supply has been temporarily disconnected in flood-affected areas, as a precautionary measure for public safety, due to widespread waterlogging.

“I visited Tengakhat in Dibrugarh district. Floods have hampered connectivity and homes have been damaged. We are working on a war footing to ensure connectivity is restored at the earliest,” Sarma said in a post on X.

Governor Gulab Chand Kataria also visited the flood-affected Morigaon district and interacted with the people.

Union Ports, Shipping and Waterways Minister Sarbananda Sonowal also visited some flood-hit areas and met affected people. Both Sarma and Sonowal instructed the officials to extend all possible help to flood-hit people. Arrangements have been made by the district administrations to give essential food items, drinking water and medical help.

Like in previous years, a large area of the Kaziranga National Park and Tiger Reserve (KNPTR) has been submerged and park authorities have intensified vigil to prevent poaching of the wildlife. KNPTR Director Sonali Ghosh said that so far 94 wild animals have been rescued by them and 77 animals drowned in the flood water.

–IANS

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Jammu, July 5 (IANS) As preparations for holding the Assembly elections in J&K get underway, the Election Commission of India (ECI) will hold a meeting with the District Election Officers (DDOs) of the UT on July 10, it was announced on Friday.

J&K’s Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), in a release, said that the meeting will be conducted via video conferencing and will address essential election preparations.

“There will be a comprehensive review of issues raised by district-level political parties, updates on the rolls and deployment of Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) and Booth Level Officers (BLOs), and the progress of house-to-house verifications.”

“The discussions will also focus on enhancing the accuracy of the electoral rolls, improving Electors Photo Identity Cards (EPICs) and preparing an integrated draft roll,” the CEO said in the statement.

All the 20 DEOs of J&K have been directed to submit a detailed status report by July 9.

–IANS

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Gurugram, July 5 (IANS) A 16-year-old boy, who strangulated a 9-year-old girl to death and tried to burn her body in Gurugram on July 1, has revealed that he also tried to sexually assault the minor victim before killing her, the police said on Friday.

A senior police officer said that Section 8 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act has been added to the case after the accused’s shocking confession.

According to the police, they received a call at around 10.45 a.m. on July 1 informing that a minor girl had been assaulted by a teenage boy who stayed in her neighbourhood in Sector 107 under the Rajendra Park police station.

The boy had gone to the girl’s house when her mother and brother were at the suspect’s home for some work.

According to the police, the victim girl had gone to the toilet when the boy allegedly tried to steal jewellery from the house. When the girl caught the suspect red-handed, she tried to raise an alarm.

However, the boy pushed the girl onto the bed and strangled her before setting her on fire with the help of white naphthalene balls, the police said.

After hearing the screams of the girl, the neighbours reached the spot but by then the victim had succumbed to her injuries.

The juvenile initially claimed that two thieves had entered the house and killed the girl, but later confessed to the murder.

“The boy kept changing his statement to mislead the police but eventually disclosed the truth. He also confessed that he tried to sexually assault the girl before killing her,” an officer said.

During questioning, the juvenile also said that he lost over Rs 20,000 in an online gaming app.

“He had borrowed Rs 20,000 from his friends and had to return the money on July 1. To repay the amount, he stole jewellery from the victim’s house, which the police have recovered,” the officer added.

–IANS

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Koderma (Jharkhand), July 5 (IANS) The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) has declared the mica mines in Jharkhand ‘child labour free’, NCPCR Chairman Priyank Kanoongo said at a programme here on Friday.

Over 20,000 children from 684 villages in the mica mining area have been rescued from the clutches of child labour and enrolled in schools, according to an NCPCR report.

This achievement is the result of a collaborative effort between the NCPCR, the state government, district administration, and civil society groups, it said.

The campaign to free children from mica mines began in 2004, when a study revealed that over 5,000 kids were working in the mines.

By 2019, the number had increased to around 20,000.

However, sustained efforts by the NCPCR, the state government, and civil society organisations have led to the successful rescue and rehabilitation of these children.

Kanoongo said, “I am proud to announce that all children have been rescued from the mica mines and are now attending schools. This achievement is a testament to the collective efforts of the government, civil society, and the district administration.”

Bhuwan Ribhu, a child rights activist who conducted the first study on child labour in the mica mines in 2004, said, “Identifying and rescuing over 20,000 children working in the mines and enrolling them in schools is a historic achievement. It shows that with determination and collective effort, even the most challenging tasks can be accomplished.”

The programme was attended by Koderma Deputy Commissioner Naman Priyesh Lakra, Giridihi Deputy Commissioner Megha Bharadwaj, and Este Lauder Companies’ Executive Director David Hirsch, among others.

–IANS

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