Pune: One dead, three injured as debris falls on labourers near Nanded City township

Firemen started the rescue operation immediately. “The workers were buried under the mud in a trench about 20 feet deep a trench. We rescued three workers safely and they were taken to a hospital for treatment,” said fire officer Prashant Gaikar.

“Three people have been shifted to Nanded multi-specialty hospital. A fourth person unfortunately died, a doctor has confirmed,” said additional municipal commissioner Prithviraj B P. The rescue operation went on for over two hours.

Prithviraj B P said the work was related to on ongoing project being implemented through Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) funds. “We will investigate the incident,” he said.

He added that the JICA project follows strict safety standards, so the PMC will find out the exact cause of the incident.

The River Improvement project, also known as JICA project, involves the construction of 11 new sewage treatment plants and laying drainage new lines to ensure that no untreated sewage is released in Mula and Mutha river. The project’s implementation had been delayed for a long time and failed to its completion deadline of March 2025.

The delay had been due to technical issues but it got back on track. The project cost increased from Rs 990 crore to Rs 1,173 crore ,with an additional Rs 250 crore for its operation and maintenance for the next 15 years.