Assam govt forms committee to probe Guwahati pipeline burst that killed 1 person

The Assam government on Friday constituted a three-member committee to investigate the incident in which a water pipe in Guwahati burst, leading to the death of a woman and injuries to five people.

The committee will be headed by Housing and Urban Affairs Secretary Pabitra Ram Khaund, while the other two members are retired secretary of Public Health Engineering Ramendra Sundar Choudhury and Irrigation Department's retired chief engineer Sanjai Kumar Mahanta, according to a notification.

The committee will submit its report within three days.

The Assam Human Rights Commission (AHRC) took suo motu cognisance of the incident, and directed the Kamrup Metro district magistrate to conduct an inquiry into the incident, which happened on Thursday.

It directed that the inquiry report must be submitted at the earliest, AHRC member Santanu Bharali said in a statement.

The actual cause of the incident is still not known and the district magistrate must examine all the aspects connected to it, he said.

The district magistrate must mention in the report the names and addresses of the deceased and injured persons, and details of the damaged vehicles, houses and business establishments, the AHRC said.

It also sought the name and address of the company that installed the pipeline and the measures taken by the administration to support and provide relief to the affected people.

The main supply pipe of the Guwahati Water Supply Project being installed with the assistance of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) burst due to some technical fault. The gushing water damaged several houses and vehicles, besides killing a person and injuring five others.

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