PWD orders safety audit at work sites in Delhi

The decision comes a day after PWD minister Atishi raised concerns over two deaths taking place within three days at the agency’s sites.

After the recent incidents of deaths and injuries due to negligence, the Public Works Department’s (PWD) quality assurance section has decided to conduct, for the first time, a safety audit of construction and repair sites across Delhi, officials aware of the matter said.

On Sunday, a labourer was electrocuted in the basement of LNJP Hospital. (Vipin Kumar/HT Photo)

The decision comes a day after PWD minister Atishi raised concerns over two deaths taking place within three days at the agency’s sites.

Last Friday, an auto-rickshaw driver drowned in a pit filled with rain water near an under-construction flyover in north-east Delhi’s Harsh Vihar. On Sunday, a labourer was electrocuted in the basement of LNJP Hospital.

Earlier, in May, a man died after entering an incomplete flyover near Barapullah and driving off its unfinished end 30 feet above the ground.

The latest incident took place on Monday at another PWD construction site when the roof partially collapsed at Sanjay Gandhi Memorial hospital in Mangolpuri. There were no fatalities in the incident, but four people were left injured, officials said.

No action has been taken so far against erring officials in connection with any of these incidents.

To prevent recurrence of such incidents, PWD will now constitute around five teams to conduct the safety audit at sites where work is underway.

“At present, there are around 5-6 people in the quality assurance team. We will include a few more members from other sections and form around five teams that will start inspecting all our construction and maintenance sites where work is going on. They will take note of the existing precautionary measures and the additional steps that need to be taken at each of these sites to ensure public safety,” said a senior PWD official, asking not to be named.

Meanwhile, officials have been directed to increase barricading, signage and other safety measures at construction sites. In a meeting on Monday, the quality assurance and vigilance officials have been asked by senior officials of PWD for a checklist of safety measures at construction sites.

On Sunday, the PWD minister slammed lieutenant governor VK Saxena for not taking action against officials concerned for their alleged negligence. The power to take action against the agency officials lies with the central government-appointed LG.

Experts say that there are clear guidelines on safe construction practices that need to be followed by all road-owning and construction agencies, but they are more of less not adhered to.

“There is a ‘Manual on Road Safety Audit’ of the Indian Road Congress that has an entire chapter on construction-stage audit that details precautions to be taken during construction. For example, for urban roads, there should be barricading and information boards at least 500m before the site and jersey barriers should be used. However, construction agencies are negligent and don’t make contractors follow all these fundamental construction practices,” said S Velmurugan, chief scientist and head, Traffic Engineering and Safety Division, Central Road Research Institute (CRRI).