The Uttar Pradesh government on Saturday gave 2011 batch IAS officer Krishna Karunesh, currently the additional chief executive officer of the Noida authority, additional charge as the CEO of the authority until a permanent appointment is made, according to a copy of the order accessed by HT.
The move comes five days after Lokesh M was removed from the post, reportedly over the drowning death of a software engineer in full public view. Karunesh confirmed to HT that he has taken charge of the Noida authority on Saturday. However, he refused to comment on the probe into the death of software engineer Yuvraj Mehta, 27, in an open trench in Sector 150 last Saturday.
An official of the UP government, who is aware of the probe, said, “The special investigation team (SIT) will finish recording statements and other processes related to the probe in the next two days and then submit the report. The time was needed as there are multiple departments involved in the issue.”
To be sure, the state government had removed the previous CEO, Lokesh M, two days after the engineer drowned. The state government also set up a three-member SIT to probe the matter. Officials said the SIT continued to record statements from Noida authority staff, police, and the fire department until 10.30 pm on Friday.
On Saturday, the SIT recorded statements of those involved in the process of providing assistance in cases of emergency, and also how the civic body failed to make the city’s civic infrastructure safer for the general public.
The entire process is being carried out at the Noida authority’s Sector 6 office, officials said.
Officials said that the SIT will detail circumstances that led to stagnation of rainwater in the vacant plot, the reasons behind the plot being vacant, and the circumstances the police, fire department and the administration were under for failing to rescue the software engineer, who reportedly waited for over two hours, before drowning.
Amid the investigation, the authority has directed the staff concerned to ensure all trenches are taken care of, potholes are repaired, and the basic infrastructure become safer for the general public, officials said.
Also, the authority has issued a notice to private parties, including real estate developers, calling for them to make such under-construction sites safer, so that such an incident does not repeat.
“If any vacant plot of a developer or any other owner of the plot is not keeping the site safe, then suitable action will be initiated,” a Noida authority officer said, requesting anonymity.