Haryana suspends official for jammed barrage gates at Delhi’s ITO

The Haryana government on Wednesday suspended a chief engineer and decided to file charge sheets against three other officials in the irrigation department for alleged negligence in the operation of gates of the ITO barrage that exacerbated the waterlogging and flood-like situation in the Capital last month, officials aware of the matter said.

All the 32 gates of Delhi’s ITO barrage are under the administrative control of the Haryana government.

In a statement on Wednesday, chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar also said that “due to non-opening of four gates of the barrage near ITO in Delhi, excess water could not be cleared in time... causing massive water logging and floods”.

During the floods, chief minister Arvind Kejriwal said that five of the gates were shut at the Yamuna barrage, causing waterlogging in the busy ITO intersection and nearby areas.

The Delhi government also blamed the neighbouring state for alleged irresponsibility in the handling and operation of the barrage, and asked that its control be handed over to them.

Following this, Haryana set up a three-member technical committee July 15 to investigate the matter. The committee in its report held four officials in the irrigation department responsible for negligence.

Pankaj Agrawal, secretary (Haryana irrigation and water resources department), said the government has suspended Sandeep Taneja, chief engineer, who was posted in Delhi with the primary responsibility to ensure upkeep of the ITO barrage.

“The probe has found that the chief engineer...didn’t take any action necessary to ensure the gates of the ITO barrage remain functional,” Agrawal told HT.

He added that orders have also been issued to file charge sheets against superintending engineer Tarun Aggarwal, executive engineer Manoj Kumar and subdivisional officer Mukesh Verma, who were posted at Yamuna Barrage. “The action against the officers in question has been taken for dereliction of duty on the basis of the fact-finding inquiry report,” Agrawal said. The committee in its report also said the jammed gates were submerged in 12 feet-deep floodwater and silt. “These gates can be opened only when both upstream and downstream silt around these gates is removed through special techniques, it said.

However, the Haryana government said the “floods in Delhi mainly occurred due to excessive encroachment, due to which the water reached up to the Ring Road. Excessive and unplanned construction around the river is obstructing the flow of Yamuna”. It also said that the Delhi government “should remove the heavy silt in front of gate number 28 to 32 so that flood water can flow through these gates.”

Later, Delhi water minister Saurabh Bharadwaj tweeted: “Due to the jammed gates of ITO barrage the chief engineer has been suspended and many engineers have been charge-sheeted. The responsibility of floods in Delhi has been fixed? Truth alone triumphs.”