Crane turns upside down on busy Noida road, no injuries

A big crane turned upside down on Wednesday afternoon and remained suspended throughout the day on the busy road near Shahdara drain, adjoining Sector 14-A . No one was hurt in the incident. Onlookers said a major accident was averted as the crane hung towards the drain and not on the main carriageway. They said the road sees heavy traffic moving from Chilla border to Sector 15 in Noida. Traffic from the flyover also merges at this point.

A big crane turned upside down on Wednesday afternoon and remained suspended throughout the day on the busy road near Shahdara drain, adjoining Sector 14-A . No one was hurt in the incident. Onlookers said a major accident was averted as the crane hung towards the drain and not on the main carriageway. They said the road sees heavy traffic moving from Chilla border to Sector 15 in Noida. Traffic from the flyover also merges at this point.

A big crane turned upside down on Wednesday afternoon and remained suspended throughout the day on the busy road near Shahdara drain, adjoining Sector 14-A . (Burhaan Kinu/HT PHOTO)

“Fortunately, there was no casualty,” said eyewitnesses, who sought help from the flood control department to control the situation.

The way in which the crane was hanging in the air also reflects absolute carelessness on the part of the men working on it. They were here to pull out another crane that had fallen into the 15ft deep green belt towards Sector 14.

Rashid Ali, SHO Sector 20, confirmed that no casualty was reported.

“I have not received any complaint but I will get it checked on the ground. I need to find out whether the crane has been removed from the spot or not,” said the SHO.

The men operating the crane said they belong to the flood control department and were assigned to clean the drain which is to be widened on the line of Shahadara drain near Mall of India.

On any given day, traffic is usually high on this route. Motorists, on their way to Delhi via Chilla border, take left near the flyover in Sector 14 to reach the main city via Sector 15.

“I was panicked when I saw this huge vehicle roaring and swinging in the air. The three or four people who were operating the crane also ran in panic while the man behind the steering wheel jumped out quickly,” said an onlooker.

Eyewitnesses said the traffic personnel and police didn’t bother to seal the carriageway.

“I have sent my men to take stock of the situation. I have instructed them to make necessary arrangements for safe traffic movement,” said Dharmendra Singh Yadav, traffic inspector Gautam Budh Nagar.