New Delhi, July 23: A labourer was crushed to death when a steel beam being lifted by a crane fell on him at a Metro construction site in Punjabi Bagh early Wednesday morning.
Blaming the contractor for the mishap, DMRC managing director E Sreedharan said, “Action will be taken against the contractor (IDEB-SUCG JV) for the irresponsibility.”
Today’s mishap comes 10 days after the accident at Zamrudpur that left six workers dead and 15 injured. Five others were injured during debris clearing at the site the following day.
DMRC officials said today’s accident occurred at 5.45 am at the construction site for Ashok Park station, part of the Inderlok-Mundka line.
The victim has been identified as Vicky Singh. Witnesses have told police that Singh was left hanging for about five minutes before fellow workers got him down. He was declared dead on arrival at a local hospital, officers said.
One Ajay, who lives about 50 metres from the site, said five or six men were working at the site when the incident took place.
Rajesh Kumar, who also lives nearby, said, “There was a similar incident at the site about three weeks ago, though no one was fortunately injured.”
Deputy Commissioner of Police (West) Sharad Aggarwal said the victim came from Uttar Pradesh. He said a case has been registered under IPC sections at Punjabi Bagh police station against Naresh Chand Sharma, safety supervisor at the construction. The FIR was lodged on supervisor Anil Dubey’s complaint.
Sreedharan said, “The contractor had brought a new crane; though it was checked and approved, the chain was new and was not checked. The chain would not have snapped if there was a rubber sheet around it.”
He also said the worker guiding the crane “should have been more careful”.
–Agencies