Killer machines turn memorial into graveyard

Forty-year-old Subedar,a labourer from Agra,was sleeping on the open ground in the complex on Monday night when he was crushed by the vehicle that is used for lifting and transporting heavy stone blocks.

Subedar was rushed to trauma centre where he succumbed to injuries. Later,his body was sent to Agra. On Monday morning,a labourer,Raju,died when a JCB machine ran over him while he was working near Gandhi Setu.

As news of Subedar’s death spread,labourers stopped work on Ambedkar Memorial and Gandhi Setu. UP Rajkiya Nirman Nigam (UPRNN),the agency for the project,announced a compensation of Rs 5 lakh to the victim’s family. Senior police officials rushed to the memorial in the morning and policemen were deployed.

Sunil Kumar,a labourer at the site,said,“It was around 11.30 pm when I was cooking food inside a shanty near the Stupa. Suddenly,I heard Subedar’s screams. As I came out,I saw him being run over by the hydra vehicle.”

The police said the driver of the vehicle was not identified,while labourers claimed his name was Mukesh. Pintu,the driver of the JCB which killed Raju,is still absconding.

Labourers said they have been working at various memorial projects in the city for the last two years without any safety equipment. On Sunday,two of them had received electric shocks from a live wire near Bhagidari Bhawan,adjacent to memorial,said a labourer.

Girdhari,a labourer from Fatehpur,said,“I earlier worked for a construction company in Bangalore. There,labourers were given helmets,rubber shoes and gloves,and belts. Here,we were never provided such safety equipment.”

About 8,000 labourers are currently working on the different memorial projects in the city and most of them have come from other states,or faraway towns. A number of accidents have taken place at these project sites.

UPRNN Managing Director

C P Singh sought to deflect the blame saying,“I have instructed all contractors to enforce safety measures. Equipment are always issued to labourers but sometimes they avoid using them.”

Lucknow Development Authority (LDA) Secretary Mani Prasad Mishra dismissed the deaths as “just accidents that could happen on roads anywhere and it has nothing to do with safety measures”.

Director (Factory and Safety) Ghanshyam Singh said,“In February,the state government came up with safety regulations for labourers employed in building works and said their implementation was under process.” District Magistrate Chandra Bhanu said,“ADM (Trans-Gomti) has been ordered to probe why such incidents were happening at Ambedkar Memorial.”

Lucknow SSP NK Srivastava said he had no information about the arrest of the driver. Later,in the evening,the LDA secretary held a meeting with contractors of all memorials and directed them to use safety measures so that such incidents were not repeated. Pamphlets containing directions for use of safety equipment were displayed in memorials.

The bloody past

In November 2008,a labourer,Tanveer,died while making shuttering for pillars in Kanshiram Memorial. On April 15,2008,four labourers were injured in Ramabai Ambedkar Maidan while doing shuttering for a dais.

In 2007,a road roller near Ramabai Ambedkar Maidan had hit a teacher of an engineering college,who died on the spot.