Hold officials accountable

In a highly embarrassing incident, a portion of a wall, measuring around 10 metres, at the greenfield airport site in Hollongi collapsed on Monday. The video and pictures of the collapsed wall were all over the local media and also on social media. The Hollongi greenfield airport is a very important project for the state. The work started after much controversy. Chief Minister Pema Khandu deserves mention for pushing this project hard. It was almost shelved, but the CM personally took it up and lobbied with the union government.

This project has been sanctioned after so much difficulty. The political bosses of the state have done their part by getting it sanctioned. Now the onus lies with the officials and the contractors to ensure that the project is completed on time and quality is not compromised.

The CM cannot visit the airport site every month to monitor the work. It is the duty of the officers concerned to strictly check the work and regularly monitor the work progress. Like the greenfield airport project, there are several government projects being implemented across the state. It is time for the state government to hold the officers concerned responsible if the project fails or if the work quality is compromised. For long the government officials of the state have been functioning without being ever held accountable. The recent incident of collapse of a newly constructed retaining wall beside NH 415 at D Sector in Itanagar is a prime example. Even though it is the fault of the engineers, no one has been held accountable till now. No inquiry has been set up. The state government needs to change the attitude.