JOIN USMetro plays down accidents behind veneer of compensation
The Namma Metro construction work has left 10 dead in the last four years, including two civilians, and several injured.
While the spokesperson of the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) claimed most of the injuries or deaths were the result of accidents, an investigation by the BMRCL and police revealed that many of the casualties were the result of inadequately trained workers, especially when it came to handling equipment. Lack of proper supervision or negligence on the part of workers to follow safety protocols also led to the deaths or injuries.
BMRCL spokesperson Yeshwanth Chavan claimed that all of the BMRCL’s workers were highly trained and had been provided safety gear such as helmets and rubber shoes.
Barely a week ago, 39-year-old Rupesh Singh died after falling from the scaffolding at the Srirampura station. The Subramanya Nagar police merely registered the incident as a case of unnatural death and did not investigate if there was any negligence on the part of BMRCL.
A senior government official said, “In major projects, death or injuries can be expected and it is a common practice among inter-governmental bodies to be lenient in such matters, so that it does not affect the project.”
BMRCL has been effectively playing down such matters by promising financial relief to the kin of the deceased or bearing the medical expenses of the injured. The Corporation can pay up to Rs four lakh as compensation in case of death. These promises have led to several relatives of those killed or injured refusing to lodge a police complaint against BMRCL.
The family of Srinivas Murthy, the 45-year-old vegetable vendor whose skull was fractured by a bolt falling from the upper platform at the Metro construction site at Dasarahalli on June 26, is a case in point.
“The BMRCL is paying the medical bills. We risk losing all of it, if we lodge a complaint,” said a member of Murthy’s family. However, social activist Samuel Sathyaseelan said in a public interest litigation filed in the High Court of Karnataka that BMRCL had not paid the promised compensation to the families of workers killed in accidents. Kamal Pant, Additional Commissioner of Police (Law and Order), said, “Police officials can file a suo motu case not only in the case of death by negligence, but also under Section 337 of the Indian Penal Code (causing hurt by act endangering life or personal safety of others), if injury is caused.