Two labourers were killed in separate accidents in Jammu on Tuesday, with one crushed to death after a concrete bridge pier collapsed in Samba district and another dying after an overloaded truck hit a pier cap on an under-construction bridge in Sidhra, officials said.
A labourer from Bihar was crushed to death and another suffered injuries after a concrete bridge pier collapsed during construction work of a flyover in Samba district’s Vijaypur on Tuesday morning, officials said. The incident occurred around 10.10 am at Jakh Morh on the Jammu-Pathankot national highway. The deceased was identified as Gotam Sahu, 25, of Bihar.
“The workers were engaged in laying the pier of the under-construction flyover when the incident happened,” said an NHAI official.
Another labourer suffered head injuries and was shifted to hospital.
Police have taken cognisance of the incident and initiated proceedings to ascertain the circumstances that led to the collapse.
The concrete structure collapsed suddenly, resulting in on-the-spot death of the 25-year-old labourer.
Soon after the incident, the contractor reportedly fled the spot. A police team has launched a rescue operation.
Other labourers, who were engaged at the site, expressed anger over no proper safety measures for them.
{{/usCountry}}Other labourers, who were engaged at the site, expressed anger over no proper safety measures for them.
{{/usCountry}}“We want the wife of the deceased to be given a pension or a job. He is survived by a wife, two minor daughters and a son. Who will feed them,” said one of the labourers.
Another labourer said, “There are no work safety measures in place and when labourers die during construction work, the contractors provide them a meager amount in compensation.”
He claimed that in two such cases of deaths, compensation of ₹1 lakh and ₹2.50 lakh were given to the next of kin.
“A labourer remains bedridden in AIIMS for the past three months but the contractor is not even ready to give ₹200 for his medicines and when we go to their office, we get abused,” he added.
The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), which has been implementing the project, said,
“An unfortunate incident occurred on Tuesday at the construction site of Package-15 of the Delhi–Amritsar–Katra (DAK) Expressway near Village Jakh.”
An elevated highway with 14 spans is being built in Jammu (Raya Morh) , each span having 15 segments. Out of 14 spans, 10 have been launched successfully.
“The work on the 11th span was in progress and during the lifting of the end part of one of the segments in the 11th span, it slipped from the launching machine and fell down on ground,” it added.
“However the NHAI is committed to best quality standards and the actions are being taken by the NHAI by sending an expert team at the site so that during launching of segments, this kind of situation does not repeat. There is no structural failure in the bridge,” it added.
“Regrettably, one worker lost his life in the untoward incident. NHAI expresses its condolences to the bereaved family. The next of kin of the deceased worker shall be appropriately compensated as per applicable norms,” it stated.
The NHAI has provided immediate compensation of ₹10 lakh to the next of kin and assured that further ex gratia by the state administration and under work compensation Act will also be given in due course of time.
A labourer engaged in the construction of a bridge over Tawi river under the Delhi-Amritsar-Katra expressway died after an overloaded truck hit the temporary shuttering supporting the recently cast pier cap in Sidhra area on Tuesday, said officials.
The deceased was identified as Budhi Singh of Ramban.
An official spokesperson of the NHAI said that an incident occurred during construction of the major bridge over the Tawi river under Package-18 of the Delhi–Amritsar–Katra Expressway.
“On Tuesday, an overloaded truck hit the temporary staging/shuttering supporting the recently cast pier cap. The impact resulted in collapse of the staging and damage to the recently cast green concrete of the pier cap. However, the damaged pier cap did not impact any passing vehicle or passerby,” he said.
A labourer sustained injuries in the incident and was shifted to hospital. He, however, succumbed to his injuries during the treatment.
The bridge is being constructed between the two existing bridges, with superstructure works already completed over approximately 540 m length. A pier cap of the bridge had been cast on August 23.
“The matter is being examined by the NHAI along with the EPC contractor and the authority’s engineer. The corrective and preventive measures shall be implemented before resumption of the affected works,” he said.