3 min readJaipurUpdated: May 23, 2026 01:39 AM IST
The Kota Development Authority (KDA) on Friday suspended three of its engineers and imposed a penalty of Rs 17 lakh on the contractor after a retired school principal driving his motorbike fell into an under-construction drain in the Borkhera area and died.
On Wednesday evening, retired principal Rameshwar Rawal was felicitated by his former colleagues at his retirement party. They reportedly garlanded the 60-year-old and honoured him with a Rajasthani turban. Rawal also posed for photos with his friends.
These would be Rawal’s last photos, as hours later, his bike fell into an under-construction drain while he was on his way home. As his family desperately searched for him, Rawal’s body was found the next day.
ASI Dharmveer Singh, posted at Kota’s Borkhera police station, said, “We received information that there is a bike in the drain. The information was only about the bike, but when the bike was pulled out, there was a body underneath it. It was taken to the Maharao Bhim Singh Hospital (MBS), where the doctors declared him dead.”
Singh said police identified Rawal from the bike’s registration number and contacted his relatives.
“His son answered and said that he had been missing since the night before. We then handed the body to the family,” he said.
The principal’s nephew, Manish Rawal, said that his uncle did not return at night and his phone could not be reached. The body was found on Thursday when locals in Gokul colony spotted a motorcycle in the local drain and informed the police.
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ASI Singh said that the drain “is on the corner of the Gokul colony and Adarsh Nagar where some construction is underway.” Nephew Manish said, “The drain was quite deep, and he died from drowning in it. This is the administration’s failure; they keep digging holes every other day and don’t care about it.”
Singh said that a post-mortem has also been conducted and a case has been lodged.
After the incident came to light, executive engineer Sagar Meena, assistant engineer Lalchand Matoria and junior engineer Vinod Madawat were suspended for negligence, KDA secretary Mukesh Choudhary said.
“A disciplinary action was also initiated against the three engineers,” he added.
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The contractor tasked with the drain construction work was fined Rs 17 lakhs — 10% of the contract amount — for not covering the drain or putting up a cautionary sign, the secretary said.
“Action was taken based on a probe report of a committee headed by the KDA deputy commissioner, who visited the site early Friday morning,” Choudhary said.
Meanwhile, the Congress attacked the state government for the death. “This news from Kota is heart-wrenching. The news of Shri Rameshwar Rawal’s passing due to governmental negligence is extremely tragic. It is even more unfortunate that no action will be taken against those responsible for this tragic incident under the BJP government, because for the BJP government, the life of the common man has no value, nor can the government hold anyone accountable,” former Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot said.
Referring to Om Birla, he said, “Where the Lok Sabha Speaker has been an MP for three terms, will there be no action even there for a life lost due to such negligence?”
With PTI inputs
