Five engineers of the water conservation department died in Nashik on Monday afternoon when the trench they were inspecting caved in on them. The engineers had gone to inspect the minor irrigation project in Deola Tehsil’s Chinchwe village following several complaints about its poor construction quality.“The engineers were originally from the irrigation department,” said V Giriraj, principal secretary, water conservation department. “They were on deputation with our department. Following several complaints about the quality of work in this particular minor irrigation project, they had gone to the site.”The deceased have been identified as deputy engineers SG Sonawane and Hiralal Patil, and junior engineers VH Ahir, PV Surywansi and Avinash Shewale.“When the officials reached the site, they were told about a leaking pipe,” said Pravin Padwal, superintendent of police, Nashik. “They excavated the earth and dug 15-feet deep to inspect the pipe. The soil was loose and fell on them, burying all of them.”Rescue workers had to use an excavator to remove the bodies from under the debris. Officials said the bodies were taken to the sub-district hospital in Chandwad for post-mortem.The irrigation project was completed in 2005 but by 2009 there were several complaints about the quality of the project.“An in-depth inquiry was conducted by the superintending engineer after which deputy engineer Sonawane and three others were suspended in July this year. The work was carried out by a Pune-based firm,’’ said Giriraj.The engineers had taken the suspended Sonawane along with them as the construction had happened during his tenure in Nashik.