Worker buried alive as BWSSB pit caves in
A construction worker was killed and another suffered critical injuries after a pit caved in while laying a sewage pipeline in Mico Layout on Saturday evening.
The victim was identified as Anji alias Anjaneyalu, 24. The injured, Suresh, 19, was rushed to a private hospital. His condition is said to be critical.
Both men hailed from Mehaboob Nagar district in Andhra Pradesh and had come to the City solely for the project a month ago. They were staying at makeshift shed near the construction site.
Anji’s wife, Beesamma, whom he had married a year ago, had accompanied him to Bangalore and was elsewhere when the accident happened, police said.
The Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board had taken up a project to lay pipes for sewage water near Bilekalli on Bannerghatta Road. Work began three months ago and is expected to finish in two or three months.
The project has been awarded to a contractor, Bharath Reddy who employed Anji and Suresh for the work.
The site of the accident was a pit nearly 10 feet deep. Excavated mud had been heaped on the roadside.
According to police, both Anji and Suresh were inside the pit around 4.30 pm, and were trying to clear more mud when the accident occurred.
“Heaps of mud suddenly caved in on both of them and the duo were buried in seconds,” police said.
Passers-by who noticed the accident rushed to the rescue but found it difficult to save the victims since there was huge silt in the pit. Soon, other construction workers arrived and after employing an earth-mover, extricated both men from the ground.
Rushed to a nearby private hospital, Anji was declared dead. Suresh is being treated as an in-patient, police said.
According to police, the accident occurred because of negligence. “The contractor and the supervisor had not taken proper security measures,” they said.
Supervisor booked
Police have booked the supervisor, Murali, under Section 304A (causing death by negligence) of the Indian Penal Code, and took him into custody.
“The contractor, Reddy, is in Andhra Pradesh,” police added. A BWSSB officer said that as the work had been outsourced to a multinational company, they will have to pay compensation for the deceased’s next of kin.
The officer also claimed that there were a prescribed set of guidelines for safety measures which may not have been followed, leading to the accident.
