Engineers asked to rope in stray animals, order withdrawn

28 Officials bending backwards to please political leaders has become the order of the day in Uttar Pradesh and this latest incident proves it again.

The Public Works Department (PWD) in the state had issued an order deploying nine junior engineers to ensure that no 'stray animals' be seen during the Chief Minister's visit to Mirzapur on Wednesday.

The order, however, was withdrawn after protest by the engineers' association.

The nine engineers were to be stationed at different places in Mirzapur equipped with ropes.

As per the order, if any stray animal tried to come on the road, the engineers were required to keep it away with the help of ropes so that the VIP movement was not hampered.

The Mirzapur Engineer Association had reacted rather strongly to the PWD order and had written a letter to the department saying the engineers are not trained to catch stray animals. The letter added that if any official is hurt, then it will not be the responsibility of the association. "It is better that the administration gets this work done by some other agency," the letter stated.

Chief minister Yogi Adityanath will be in Mirzapur on Wednesday for the ongoing Ganga Yatra.

The five-day 'Ganga Yatra' from Bijnor was flagged off by Yogi Adityanath on Monday. The first Yatra began from Bijnor while the second Yatra was flagged off from Ballia.

( With inputs from IANS )