A nine-year-old girl died today after being crushed under a gate of Lok Bhawan (Chief Minister's Office) in Lucknow. According to reports, some construction work was underway at the rear portion of the Lok Bhawan, the office of Yogi Adityanath.
The deceased girl has been identified as Kiran, daughter of a labour worker who was working at the site when this unfortunate incident occurred. The family of the girl hails from Lakhimpur.
As per initial information, the welding of the iron gate broke down following which the entire wall came crumbling down. The girl was close to the gate and thus she got buried under the debris. She was, however, rescued immediately by people on the site and rushed to a private hospital for medical aid. However, the minor succumbed to the injuries sustained in the accident.
Meanwhile, the state government has announced ex-gratia relief of Rs 1.5 lakh to the girl's family and ordered a probe into the incident.
Former Uttar Pradesh CM Akhilesh Yadav had in last October inaugurated the Lok Bhawan – the new office of the CM, replacing the five-storey Shastri Bhawan. The Lok Bhawan also house offices of some ministers and senior bureaucrats. The Lok Bhawan was built at a whooping cost of Rs 602 crore.
Today’s incident has raised many eyebrows as reports of irregularities have started doing the rounds on internet in the construction of the one-year-old building.
