Ghaziabad: 8 workers injured as shuttering of water tank crashes

Tncident occurred when about eight of a dozen workers, who climbed up the top portion of the water tank, suddenly fell to the ground as a shuttering fitted to the water tank collapsed

Ghaziabad: Eight construction workers were injured after a shuttering fitted to an overhead water tank, built as part of the “Jal Jeevan Mission”, collapsed at the Ukhlarsi cremation ground in Muradnagar on Sunday morning.

A committee of officials, comprising sub-divisional magistrate of Modinagar, executive engineer of the public works department, and engineer from Muradnagar Nagar Palika, was set up to probe the incident. (Sakib Ali/HT Photos)

Notably, it is the same site where 24 people were killed after a roof collapsed on January 3, 2021.

The latest incident occurred around 9.30am when about eight of a dozen workers, who climbed up the top portion of the water tank, fell to the ground as a shuttering fitted to the water tank collapsed, officers said.

“The overhead water tank is being constructed as part of ‘Jal Jeevan Mission’ (urban). The workers had climbed the shuttering to take up construction. But they fell to the ground, possibly due to loose shuttering. They were working at a height of about 20 metres. Eight injured workers were rushed to the hospital, and there were no casualties,” said Saurabh Bhatt, additional district magistrate (finance), adding that a team of the National Disaster Response Force was also called in for a search.

The wounded were taken to Sanjay Nagar Combined District Hospital in ambulances, officials said. Doctors at the emergency ward said that some of them suffered fractures, facial injuries and head injuries, besides other forms of injuries.

“We have seven injured people admitted here, and one was referred to Delhi,” said a doctor at the hospital’s emergency.

Senior administration officials visiting the site said that the injured are originally from Bareilly, Budaun, and Shahjahanpur districts in Uttar Pradesh.

A committee of officials, comprising sub-divisional magistrate of Modinagar, executive engineer of the public works department, and engineer from Muradnagar Nagar Palika, was set up to probe the incident.

“The structure of the overhead tank did not suffer any collapse, but only the shuttering. The contractor should have taken precaution to equip workers with safety gear before they were asked to climb up. Prima-facie, it appears that the shuttering was loose, and it somehow collapsed,” Bhatt added.

The injured workers at the hospital said that they found themselves hitting the ground within a few seconds.

“We were working at a height of about 20 metres, applying plaster on the top portion of the water tank. I have been working here for the past month and earning ₹600 per day. We were not wearing any safety gear. It was bamboo-based shuttering that collapsed. I suffered injuries on my head and hands. I found myself below the collapsed shuttering structure,” said 26-year-old, Dinesh Shakya, originally from Budaun.

Thirty-five-year-old Suraj Pal, from Shahjahanpur, suffered fractures to his legs. “I could not realise what happened, and the shuttering came crashing to the ground. Even if we were wearing the safety gear, it would not have saved us after falling from this height,” Pal added.

Vinod Kumar, another worker from Bareilly, said that he was also working at the top portion of the tank. “Most of us got entangled in the shuttering as it collapsed. No one was wearing any safety gear. I suffered injury to one of my legs, and several iron rods also pierced my body during the fall,” he added.