The front portion of the car was damaged. BMRCL officials suspect the incident occurred due to workers’ negligence who had not fixed the jack and connected it to the hydra. As a result, the hydra lost balance when the jack turned partially and fell on the road.
The police blocked the stretch between Maruti Mandir and Vijaynagar depot towards Mysore Road and traffic was allowed on service road. For nearly three hours, traffic moved at a snail’s pace.
A large crowed gathered on the spot and demanded action against those responsible for the incident.
M Chandrashekhar who escaped unhurt in the mishap narrated his experience to Deccan Herald: “Ten of our family members were moving towards Mysore Road. We heard huge noise seconds after we moved past the Vijaynagar depot. The vehicle trembled for a while. I got down to see what had happened. I was shocked when I saw hydra had turned turtle and fallen on front portion of my car. It would have been a major tragedy had our driver been fast by two seconds.”
Ram Tekker, Chief Engineer Reach-II said: “The hydra was lifting cement pile. The workers had not fixed the jack properly. The soil was loose as it had rained. The hydra turned to its left and fell on the road seconds after it started lifting a cement pile.”
Usually, the hydra can lift weight up to 12 tonnes, but it turned turtle while lifting a cement pile of just two tonnes.
Inquiry
The BMRCL will conduct an inquiry and take stringent action against the guilty, he added.
The project manager of three stations Venkata Ramana admitted that human error caused the incident and apologised. He said compensation would be given for repair of the vehicle.
Govindarajnagar Assembly Constituency MLA Priya Krishna, BBMP Mayor S K Nataraj and Hampinagar (ward number 34) corporator Chandrashekhar visited the spot.
Priya Krishna demanded BMRCL higher-ups to initiate stern action against errant and sought compensation for the victims. “I was told there were only labourers working sans the site engineer to monitor. I urge the BMRCL to suspend project engineer of Vijaynagar station,” he said.
Ahluwalia company is the agency which has taken up the Reach II construction work.
Chandrashekhar threatened to sit on a dharna if the BMRCL failed to compensate the family.
The police had a tough time convincing him and clear the SUV and hydra. However, he relented when the BMRCL staff gave in writing that they would compensate soon.
The Vijaynagar police have registered a case.
