SHILLONG:
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and Tura MDC Bernard N Marak, on June 26, asked Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma to stop being defensive over the shoddy work done at the PA Sangma stadium and to let the Centre set up a high level independent inquiry committee for proper investigation.
In a letter to the chief minister, Marak said, “…stop being so defensive over the shoddy work done at Purno Sangma stadium instead let the high level independent inquiry committee be invited from the Centre so that proper investigation can be done.”
He said that the wall that collapsed at PA Sangma stadium revealed that the back filling was done with red and clay soil which was obviously not recommended by the experts.
“Back filling with the wrong material was the main cause of collapse. Red and clay soil should not have been used to fill in the first place as water accumulates and exerts pressure. The weep hole on the wall was blocked because of the red soil. Stone, sand, dust and other materials should have been used for backfilling where it can be seen that wrong material was used which caused the wall to collapse,” Marak added.
He further added, “On closer observation, the wall did not slide rather it failed to hold the weight of the water and clay. You, yourself acknowledged that there was a mud slip which caused the wall to collapse so the question is from where the mud came? Who were the engineer and the contractor?”
Informing that he had filed an FIR on the matter, the MDC said, “I filed a simple FIR to see how sincerely the police department investigate the matter but before investigation SP Tura Vivek Vivekananda Rathore has given a defensive statement. The police did not even ask for the DPR of the project.”
Stating that the PA Sangma stadium is a landmark project of Rs 128 crore, Marak said, “I would expect some respect to your father’s name and someone be made responsible for the shoddy work by the fund allotted to build such a beautiful stadium. Tell the people concerned to remove the red soil from the walls.”
“Secondly, construct a shade in the galleries as the water from the galleries without proper roof accumulated on the side of the ground and caused a mudslip. Thirdly, the drainage is not proper as the outlets in the collapsed wall only had 4″ PVC pipes which were directly drained to the Diringga road,” he also stated in the letter.