A 32-year-old labourer working in a pit dug up to repair a water pipeline in Railway Road area of Aligarh was killed after a mound of soil caved in and fell on him, Saturday.
A video of the incident went viral, showing workers, including the victim, identified as Mahendra, engaged in the pit with equipment. Even as an earthmover was stationed nearby, the labourer could not be saved. The video shows the pit was filled with water.
Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath took cognisance of the incident and ordered a committee be set up to conduct a thorough probe into the matter. The government also announced an ex gratia of Rs 5 lakh for the family of the deceased.
Aligarh District Magistrate Avinash Kumar told The Indian Express that the Aligarh Municipal Corporation was getting the repair of a underground leaking water pipeline done through a private contractor. Two of the three spots where leakages were found in the pipeline had been plugged, he said.
As soon as the victim got trapped under the mound of soil, the workers around him took him out with the help of the earthmover and rushed him to the hospital, but he was declared dead.
The DM said besides the ex gratia being announced by the government, the contractor is also offering compensation to the deceased’s family. The three-member committee (announced by CM) headed by the additional municipal commissioner will submit its report within three days, he said.
The committee will have the executive engineer (construction) and the tax assessment officer as its members.
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Municipal Commissioner Prem Prakash Meena said the civic body was carrying out the road, sewer and drain construction work under the CM Grid Scheme in the area.
“As part of this, the work of repairing a damaged drinking water pipeline was being carried out by the Jal Kal section in front of Apsara Cinema. At the site, all safety standards were being followed, and barricading, warning signs and safety equipment were also installed. Despite this, during the joining of the pipeline, a part of the road suddenly collapsed, due to which the worker was seriously injured. He was taken to hospital, where he died during treatment,” Meena said.
Terming the accident as “extremely unfortunate”, he said safety arrangements at construction sites will be made more stringent to prevent recurrence of such incidents in future.
Bhupendra Pandey is the Resident Editor of the Lucknow edition of The Indian Express. With decades of experience in the heart of Uttar Pradesh’s journalistic landscape, he oversees the bureau’s coverage of India’s most politically significant state. His expertise lies in navigating the complex intersections of state governance, legislative policy, and grassroots social movements. From tracking high-stakes assembly elections to analyzing administrative shifts in the Hindi heartland, Bhupendra’s reportage provides a definitive lens on the region's evolution.
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