Engineers’ body to mark today as Black Day

The state government had razed the CDD building,a guest house,a filed hostel and a housing colony on November 22,2008. On the land vacated after the demolition of these buildings,it had developed an eco park.

“The CDD office was demolished without being vacated. Hence,several important documents like designs of the projects,guidelines and Indian Standard Codes got destroyed,” said A A Farooqui,president of UPEA.

He added that the CDD was only office in Uttar Pradesh where designs of irrigation projects were being drawn. “Its demolition was big loss for entire engineers’ fraternity and the state government,” he said.

The CDD office was set up in Lucknow in 1961 to specifically undertake designing of hydro-projects. The Ram Ganga multipurpose project,Rihand Dam,Obra Dam and Yamuna stage-I,Sharda Sahayak Project,Narora Barrage,Lower Ganga Canal Projects,Mata Tital Dam (Lalitpur),Belan Canal (Banda),Yamuna Pump House were some major projects designed by the CDD office.

“Drawings of these projects were found buried in debris of the demolished building. Whenever a new engineer joins the department,he learns designing and planning of dams,bridges,pump houses and other projects by studying designs of old projects,” said S S Niranjan,UPEA General Secretary.

After demolition of the Parikalp Nagar (East) colony,the state government had promised to construct a new residential building for irrigation engineers. But that promise is yet to be fulfilled,he added.

The UPEA will also hold a meeting on Monday about the rally they have planned for December 8. “The rally will be organised in protest of the inaction on part of the state government in connection to the murder of Manoj Kumar Singh — an assistant engineer of the Irrigation department posted in Gorakhpur,” said the association president. Singh was shot by two unidentified men in August. The UPEA so far had submitted four memorandums demanding extra ordinary pension and job for kin of deceased engineer. “But none of these demands have been met yet,” said Farooqui.