Daily wager trapped under mound of earth dies

A case under Section 304 A (causing death by negligence) of the IPC was registered against the site manager and the site engineer at the Kherki Daula police station on Tuesday night

A 22-year-old daily wage labourer died after he got stuck under a mound of earth, which came crumbling down on him at an under-construction site of a commercial project in Sector 84 on Tuesday morning.

The workers were digging to carve out the basement of the commercial project, which is next to a residential complex. (Vipin Kumar/HT)

The deceased was identified as Gajender Pal of Rai Bareilly in Uttar Pradesh. The incident took place around 9.45am, when six labourers were allegedly working at the under-construction site without any safety gears.

A case under Section 304 A (causing death by negligence) of the IPC was registered against the site manager and the site engineer at the Kherki Daula police station on Tuesday night.

Rajender Singh, station house officer (SHO) of Kherki Daula police station, said the workers were digging to carve out the basement of the commercial project, which is next to a residential complex. “The labourers had dug around 20ft below ground level, when a massive mound of earth from the retaining wall came crumbling down. While five other labourers rushed to safety, Pal got trapped under the mound of earth.”

Kailash Singh, a migrant labourer from Pal’s village who stayed with him in the same room in Gurugram, said, “We were working on the site digging a basement and placing iron column, when suddenly the retaining wall collapsed and Gajender’s leg got trapped in the mud. There were four JCBs at the spot, which removed the soil and pulled him out. He was still breathing when he was pulled out,” said Singh.

Police said the contractor had informed the police about the mishap and had taken Pal to the Civil Hospital in Sector 10., where died while undergoing treatment. The body has been kept in the mortuary and will be handed over to the family members after the post-mortem on Wednesday.

Narender Singh, officer at Sector 29 fire station, said they got a call from Manesar that a building has collapsed. “A fire tender from Manesar was sent and a rescue team from Sector 29 left within minutes. When they reached, the victim had already been pulled out of the mound of mud and was taken to hospital. The information that a building has collapsed was incorrect,” he said.

The five labourers who survived the mishap alleged negligence on the contractor’s part, said police. Labourers alleged that had proper safety gear and equipment been provided to them, their friend would have survived. Another migrant labourer, who wished to remain anonymous, said, “The wall should have been concretised and proper support should have been given before digging the basement for the commercial project.”

Kailash Singh said despite demanding safety gear for the last two days, the contractor did not provide them with any and no arrangements have been made at the site for their safety. “We are lucky that we survived else we too would died in the collapse,” said Singh adding that they are demanding compensation from the landowner and the contractor.

Kailash Singh said they had come to Gurugram together for work last week. “We started work at this site four days ago and the contractor provided us a room to stay. Gajender was saving money as he wanted to build a house in his village and was scheduled to get married next year,” he said.

On January 20, a similar incident was reported from Sector 56 where two construction labourers were buried alive after a mound of earth came crumbling down on them while they were working at an under-construction plot. Police had registered a case against the contractor and owner of the plot after a relative of the victims’ filed a complaint alleging negligence on their part, which led to the death of the labourers.