F.I.R lodged in Safdarjung house collapse case; no arrests made yet

Around 22 workers were doing excavation and making a mesh of iron bars (to support building) at an under construction house in B-5 block in Safdarjung Enclave when soil beneath them slipped and a portion of the structure collapsed on them. Five of the workers were trapped under the debris.

A day after a 60-year-old man died while four others were left injured in a house collapse in southwest Delhi’s Safdarjung Enclave area, the Delhi Police said they have lodged a case but no arrests have been made yet. Locals, meanwhile, alleged that the owner and contractor were not following norms and were “careless”.

During the rescue operations. (HT)

Around 22 workers were doing excavation and making a mesh of iron bars (to support building) at an under construction house in B-5 block in Safdarjung Enclave when soil beneath them slipped and a portion of the structure collapsed on them. Five of the workers were trapped under the debris.

Deputy commissioner of police (DCP) (southwest) Amit Goel had said that during excavation, a corner concrete pillar along with the basement soil slipped from beneath, causing a portion of the structure to collapse. The labourers were buried under the debris and soil.

On Friday, DCP Goel said that an FIR has been lodged against unknown persons for negligence causing death and negligence with respect to repairing buildings. “We are conducting a probe to see who had what role in the construction and what were the exact violations and negligence during the work. The owner and contractor has been identified” said a senior police officer.

The deceased was identified as Hari Mohan, a resident of Madangir. The injured were identified as Pradeep (35), Chiku (43), Babulal (70), and Ashok (46)- all residents of Delhi, Utter Pradesh and Rajasthan.

Meanwhile, locals and fire officials said it was a two-three hour long rescue operation filled with challenges.

A fire official, who refused to be named, told HT “There was a huge pile of mud and other debris which fell on the workers who were making a mesh in a pit. I think the pit was at least 15 feet deep. The workers were buried under the debris for a long time. It took almost three hours to finish the rescue operation. There were a lot of iron bars around the site as well.”

Fire officer Manoj Mehlawat said “It took us around 25 minutes to reach after the call came due to heavy traffic in the area. Due to the sudden collapse, the workers got heavily injured due to the iron bars. In the second hour of the rescue, we had to cut the iron bars from above to remove people”

Suanshu Singh, 40, a local, said, “We saw the workers were right under the huge mud pile. The contractor was not even there. The workers were struggling and we jumped in to help. The rescue was tough due to the heavy volume of iron bars. It had pierced through their legs and they could not move. Also, there were 10-15 feet below the ground. It was tough to remove all that mud. We don’t even know the owner and the RWA has been informed about these activities”

Police said the owner is a builder who was planning to build a three to four storey building.

Yogesh Jha, another local, said, “I have already fought with the construction manager before. In February, a pole had fallen on the main street because of their careless construction activities. Luckily, nobody was injured. I also complained to RWA because they would put all the iron bars and building material on the road. Our children and elderly pass through the same route and can get injured. No rules were being followed inside. I saw there was nobody to guide the workers. They have put barriers and people have to scale the material thrown on the roads. We knew this was coming…Sadly, nobody took action.”