Exclusive | Pit unattended, poor barricading: Inquiry flags deadly safety lapses in Delhi biker’s death

The victim, Kamal Dhyani, had spoken to his brother just before midnight on Thursday and told him he would be home soon. On Friday morning, his body was discovered at the bottom of the pit in West Delhi’s Janakpuri, covered in mud and still wearing his red helmet. His motorcycle lay next to him.

Just a day before the tragedy, the pit, around six metres long and four metres wide and deep, had been dug by the DJB on a service road as part of an ongoing major revamp of the Capital’s drainage network.

What the committee found at the site

According to the report, local inquiry revealed that the deceased had entered a “restricted or closed narrow portion of the barricaded roadway” and was moving against the designated traffic flow, “apparently in an attempt to take a shortcut towards his residence”.

However, the committee underlined that iron barricades, which are mandatory along the entire perimeter of excavation sites, were not in place as required.

“These barricades must remain firmly in place and should only be relocated once the road surface has been fully levelled and made safe for public use,” the report underlined, adding that green-mesh netting may be deployed only selectively and cannot substitute iron barricades in areas where excavation has been undertaken.

Site left unattended, officials and contractor faulted

Crucially, the inquiry found that the project site was left unattended at the time of the incident, reflecting a “serious lapse in mandatory safety arrangements”. This, the committee said, highlighted deficiencies in night-time supervision, vigilance and the discharge of official duties by both the executing agency and supervising officers of the engineering division concerned.

“Prima facie, such negligence constitutes non-compliance with established safety norms and points to dereliction of duty,” the report said, fixing responsibility on the contractor agency, M/s KK Spun India Ltd-O Liner JV, and staffers including Ramesh Kumar Gupta, Superintending Engineer (Drains), Project-IV; Azad Singh Grewal, Executive Engineer, EE(P)SR-II; Vandana, Assistant Engineer (Civil); and Alok Kumar, Junior Engineer (Civil), who is working on a contractual basis — the latter three were suspended on Friday.

The committee has proposed disciplinary action against the officials concerned, show-cause notices to contractors “without delay”, and making Chief Engineers responsible for enforcing safety compliance across projects.

What the committee recommended

To prevent recurrence of such incidents, the inquiry has called for:

• Strict enforcement of barricading and pit-protection norms across all work sites
• Mandatory daily safety monitoring reports” by site engineers, documenting safety arrangements and corrective actions taken.
• Periodic surprise inspections by senior officers to verify on-ground compliance and identify lapses.
• Systematic maintenance of photographic records at each site as proof of safety compliance.

“The fatal accident at Janakpuri stands as a grave reminder of the consequences of inadequate safety oversight,” the report said, adding that “safeguarding the public must remain the foremost priority” and that any lapse in this regard is unacceptable.

A senior official said that the inquiry was conducted to inquire into and examine multiple aspects of safety and compliance at the accident site. “A comprehensive and detailed inquiry report will be submitted in due course,” said the official.

Action taken

Apart from the suspension, an FIR has been registered under sections of culpable homicide against unknown persons. On Saturday, the Delhi Police also apprehended a sub-contractor in connection with the case.