Wall collapse at construction site claims 2 lives

The injured workers, identified as Dakhva30 and Ishwar Arjun Behram 28 were rushed to the Sion Hospital where they were declared brought dead. 8220;These wokers were employed by labour contractors named Chirag Contractors who were in turn hired by the Perfect Engineering to carry out construction works for the BMC,8221; said Senior Police Inspector Shyam Gundewadi of the Shahu Nagar police station.

The two workers were digging and working on a mortar pipeline at outer side of the wall at TH Kataria Road near the Matunga railway colony. During this time, a part of the wall collapsed on them ad crushed them to death, said the police.

8220;The workers had been contracted to carry out mortar work at the road beside the wall at the Matunga railway colony. The work has been going on for the past 15 days and there were a total of 20-25 workers at the spot,8221; said Narendra Pajare, a sub-engineer of the BMC who was on the spot when part of the wall collapsed. Pajare also said the part of the wall might have collapsed as it was very old and in a dilapidated condition.

A case of causing death by negligence has been registered against the contractors by the police. 8220;Even though the digging work was going near the base of the wall, there was no support given to the wall to prevent the wall from falling over the workers. Moreover, the workers were not provided with helmets or safety devices. Keeping this in mind, we have registered the case,8221; Gundewadi said.

Asked for the names of the accused, Gundewadi said, 8220;So far, we are conducting enquiries to find out which personnel from the contractor8217;s office was directly responsible for the work happening in such circumstances. As this is the weekend, we have not been able to communicate with the relevant BMC officials. As soon as the weekend gets over, we shall be communicating with the BMC to help us with enquiry.8221;