Varanasi: The Varanasi Municipal Corporation’s transport department declared several vehicles “dead” and included them in the auction list even before their 10-year tenure. Municipal commissioner Himanshu Nagpal took cognisance of the issue and suspended three employees with immediate effect. He also assigned the investigation to additional municipal commissioner Amit Kumar and directed him to submit the report within 15 days. During the suspension period, all three employees will be attached to the investigating officer.Deputy chairman Narsingh Das and councillors Hanuman Prasad and Madan Mohan Dubey, who were part of the auction committee, conducted a physical inspection of the yard. The report stated that 25 e-garbage machines of various types purchased in Aug 2022 were declared scrap in just 1.5 years. Similarly, only the chassis of a golf cart vehicle remained, with its wheels, engine and battery were missing. Jatayu machines worth Rs 10-10 lakh and sweeper machines worth Rs 75 lakh were dumped in the dumping yard without any expert report.Engines, batteries and wheels of vehicles parked in the workshop were found missing. No service record was found for new JCB and Mahindra vehicles. Two Tata Ace vehicles, on which more than Rs 1.5 lakh were spent on repairs, were also put in the scrap list. Based on the committee members’ report, the mayor and municipal commissioner conducted a physical inspection of the yard. Prima facie, junior clerks Vaibhav Sharan Mishra, Saurabh Sanyal and Napendra Shankar Singh have been suspended on charges of gross negligence in vehicle maintenance and causing financial loss.
