STP tragedy: Six accused get bail

A day after the roof of an under-construction biodigester collapsed at a BWSSB Sewage Treatment Plant in northeastern Bengaluru, killing two site engineers and a supervisor, all the six accused — including three BWSSB engineers — were released on bail on Tuesday.

Police had arrested Surendra, the contractor of the Surat-based Enviro Control Associates India Pvt Ltd; Bharath, the supervisor of SMC Infrastructures; Karthik, engineer; Gaurav, mechanical engineer; and BWSSB assistant engineer Mohammed Haneef and Bhagyalakshmi. They were booked for causing death due to negligence.

The Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) is building a 100 MLD STP on 25 acres of land at Jogappa Layout, opposite Lumbini Gardens in Hebbal, at a cost of Rs 360.77 crore. On Monday, the work of pouring concrete on the roof of the biodigester was going on when the roof suddenly collapsed after the scaffolding below the shuttering place (formwork) gave away.

Kala Krishnaswamy, DCP (north-east), said the accused told the police they had taken all precautionary measures, yet the roofing collapsed.

Police handed over the body of site engineer Krishna Yadav, a native of Davangere, to his family. The mother of another deceased, Prabhu Rao, is in the USA and the police are waiting for her arrival. The relatives of site supervisor Sumanthkar are on their way to the city to collect his body, police said.

Six workers who were being treated in the ICU were shifted to other wards on Tuesday.