Journalism of Courage
Two labourers working at the construction site of a hotel on Airport Road were fatally injured when marble tiles, which were being moved by other workers, fell on them on Wednesday morning. They later succumbed to their injuries.
Police have registered an offence against the office-bearers of the construction company on charges of causing death due to negligence and not taking adequate safety measures at the construction site. The two labourers have been identified as Govind Mithailal Prajapati (22), who was from Jaunpur in Uttar Pradesh, and Laxman Ramratan Durve (26), who was from Kabirdham in Chhattisgarh. As per the information given by Yerawada police, the incident took place around 10.30 am, when six to seven labourers, who were standing at a height, were moving a stack of marble tiles. The tiles slipped from their hands and fell on two other labourers, who were standing below them. The two labourers sustained serious injuries in the incident and succumbed to them later.
Several accidents at construction sites have been reported in the past and in almost all of the cases the unfortunate victims have been construction labourers. While these cases do get registered at police stations and contractors and supervisors are booked for causing death due to negligence, the rate of conviction in these cases has been extremely low. In spite of the strict guidelines of organisations of real estate developers in place, worryingly low compliance is observed. While it is the responsibility of the local civic bodies to ensure presence of adequate safety measures at the sites, often, the lack of site inspection engineers is cited as the reason for low enforcement.
Assistant Inspector Rahul Giramkar of Yerawada police station, who is probing the case, said, “Based on primary investigation, we have booked the owner of the construction company and the supervisor who was in-charge of the work at the time. They have been booked for not providing any safety equipment to the labourers at the construction site.”
