3 dead, 1 critical as workers fall off 16th floor of under-construction building
The workers fell after the scaffolding on which they were working collapsed. The incident occurred in an under construction building in Borivali West
Mumbai: Three migrant workers from West Bengal – Shankar Baidya, 26, Piyush Haldar, 38, and Manranjan Samaddar, 43 – died on Tuesday after falling off the 16th floor of an under construction building in Borivali West. A fourth worker, 35-year-old Sushil Gupta, was battling for life at a hospital after sustaining grievous injuries due to the incident. Work at the construction site was suspended and the contractor, site engineer and foreman were booked for not taking adequate safety measures during construction.
According to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), the workers fell after the scaffolding on which they were working collapsed. The incident occurred in an under construction building near Kalpana Chawla Chowk in Borivali West. All four workers were rushed to Shatabdi hospital in Kandivali West, where three were declared brought dead. Gupta, who was injured in the abdomen, was admitted in the ICU and remained critical.
According to an eyewitness at the site, the scaffolding collapsed at around 10am. “Baidya, Haldar and Samatdar fell inside the parking lift duct which was filled with water, while Gupta got stuck on a rod around 5th floor,” he said.
It took around two hours to drain the water from the duct using a motor and locate the three deceased workers trapped inside. “Only one deceased worker had a family member here. Families of the other two deceased workers were informed through other labourers from the same village working at the site,” the eyewitness said.
Sandhya Nandedkar, assistant commissioner, R Central ward said the workers fell while working on the parking tower inside Soni Arcade, a 24-storey under-construction building. “We have stopped work at the site and the police are in the process of registering an FIR,” she said.
When HT visited the site, the gates of the building were shut and workers were not allowed to speak.
On Tuesday night, the Borivali police registered a case against contractor Saroj Chankrapani Salla, 35, site engineer Dhanajay Parab, 29, and foreman Rahul alias Littan Biswas, 35 for not taking adequate safety measures at the site. The three men were booked under sections 304 (a) (death due to negligence) and 338 (causing grievous hurt to any person by act endangering life or personal safety of others) of the Indian Penal Code.
Officers said they were trying to trace the three men who lived in Dombivali and Kalyan. “They will be arrested soon,” said a police officer from Borivali police station.