Three labourers trapped in swamped Vasant Vihar site in south Delhi
The two-storey basement, which was dug up for nearly 20 feet, was covered with at least 10-feet of water, slush, collapsed parts of temporary structures and a couple of trees
At least three labourers, including a woman, are feared to be trapped in an under-construction basement, which was filled with rainwater and mud after a portion of the land and makeshift shanties constructed above it collapsed following torrential rain on Friday, at Vasant Vihar in south Delhi, fire department officials and police officers aware of the incident said.
The two-storey basement, which was dug up for nearly 20 feet, was covered with at least 10-feet of water, slush, collapsed parts of temporary structures and a couple of trees, they added.
A search and rescue operation began soon after they were informed about the mishap. Even after a 15-hour operation by multiple agencies, including police, fire department, national disaster response force (NDRF) and municipal corporation of Delhi (MCD), the rainwater, mud slush and other materials could not be cleared, the officers said.
There were no signs of the labourers trapped inside the basement till the time of filing of the report.
“The rescuers are facing difficulties in clearing the debris due to presence of iron rods and other construction materials in the under-construction basement. At least two pumps are being used to drain the water. However, the pumps are not functioning to their best capacity as the mud slush blocked the machines. At least two feet of water is still present in the basement. The rescuers also made manual efforts, but failed to trace the missing people till late evening,” said deputy commissioner of police (southwest) Rohit Meena.
According to Meena, the two-storey basement of a building at B-block of Vasant Vihar was being constructed over 500 square yard plot for the last few weeks. The owner and contractor of the site obtained permission from the agencies concerned for carrying out the project. The labourers working at the site were given makeshift shanties on the edge of the construction site and some of those structures caved in and fell into the basement after the land under it collapsed along with a mango tree and a neem tree, the police said.
“Around 5.30am, the police received a call regarding a land collapse at an under-construction site. A police team reached there and some people claimed that six to seven people fell into the under-construction basement. At least four of them managed to come out on their own. They told the personnel that two men and a woman were trapped under the debris in the basement that was half flooded with rainwater,” said DCP.
The spot is located opposite to the Jamaica High Commission and also has High Commission of Namibia and High Commission of Papua New Guinea in its vicinity.
Dilkhush Kumar Yadav, a family friend of one of the missing labourers, Santosh Kumar, 20, said that they were from Araria in Bihar. He said that he received a call from Yadav’s family members back in his hometown, informing that he was not responding to their phone calls.
“The rescuers haven’t told me anything about Santosh. I don’t know whether he is trapped under the debris or is alive,” Yadav.
NDRF officials on site said that the collapse of two mature trees also delayed the rescue operations. The 20-feet deep construction site was filled with debris and water after the downpour. Over 100 officials from the agencies concerned were present at the rescue site.
“Excavator crane is being used to pick up the debris and additional workers have been deployed to speed up the rescue process,” said an NDRF official on condition of anonymity.