Ragpicker dies as MC dump’s wall collapses
A ragpicker died as a 35-foot-long wall of the municipal corporation dump near the books market collapsed on Friday morning. Three stray dogs that were sleeping along the wall were also buried under the debris and died.
A ragpicker died as a 35-foot-long wall of the municipal corporation dump near the books market collapsed on Friday morning. Three stray dogs that were sleeping along the wall were also buried under the debris and died.
The deceased has been identified as Guddu, 35. He used to pick plastic refuse from the garbage dump. Surinder Kalyan, president of Bhartiya Valmiki Sewa Dal, said that when Guddu was picking plastic around 10.30am, the wall collapsed on him.
The books market shopkeepers and other bystanders pulled him out of the debris and rushed him to hospital, where he died while undergoing treatment.
Kalyan said Guddu is survived by his wife and five children, including two daughters.
Accusing Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) officials and a construction contractor for the incident, Bhartiya Valmiki Sewa Dal also staged a protest and blocked the national highway at Jagraon Bridge for around an hour.
The protesters said some construction work was going on at the PSPCL office, and the labourers kept dumping the soil dug from the site along the wall that led to the collapse.
Surinder Kalyan said no officer from the municipal corporation, PSPCL or police department turned up at the spot and no proceedings were initiated in the case.
Hundreds of vehicles were stuck in the jam and commuters had a tough time during the road blockade. Later, the police managed to pacify the protesters by assuring them that a probe would be conducted and a first information report would be registered in the case. The protesters also demanded financial compensation for the family, before lifting the blockade. different locations in the city this year. As the city lacks public toilets, the civic body plans to place seven new mobile toilet vans at different locations on the lines of one such toilet functioning near the Clock Tower. The finance and contract committee (F&CC) of the municipal corporation (MC) has recently given its green signal.