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2 months after worker fell to his death at Pune metro site, contractor booked
Police begins probe after obtaining medical reports of the deceased and the family files a case.
A worker fell to his death at the Pune Metro rail site at 10m tall pillar near Bund Garden in front of Sujata Cooperative housing society on September 28, prompting police action against the contractor after two months. The Koregaon Park police began investigating the case and obtained medical reports of the deceased and then, in November lodged the case against the contractor.
According to police officials, the site contractor has been booked on charges of negligence and endangering the life of the deceased. An official first information report (FIR) has been lodged by police sub-inspector Manisha Tile in this regard on Tuesday.
According to the complaint, the deceased has been identified as Abhinandan Nandkishore Ramani (23), a resident of Maharashtra Housing Board in Nagpur Chawl and a native of Bihar. Ramani’s relatives took the body to Bihar and the police waited for his relatives, including his father, to come back to Pune to register a case. The case has been registered after more than two months
The deceased was fitting nut bolts at the bridge at a distance of 10 metres from the ground at Bund Garden on Kothrud Ramwadi line, being developed by the Maharashtra Metro Rail Corporation. Around 6pm, the deceased lost his balance and fell to the ground and died instantly.
Police sub-inspector Bhagwat Shendge said that a case under Section 304 A has been lodged and the site contractor has booked in the case.
Shendge said, “The contractor did not provide the mandatory safety belt to the worker who was removing the bolts nor had he installed a safety net around the pillar. If a safety net would have been placed at the pillar, the mishap could have been avoided.”
“After the incident, Maha-Metro has carried out a safety drive and has ensured that labourers use their safety gear” said Maha-Metro public relations officer Hemant Sonawane.
The construction of metro rail has witnessed multiple mishaps. On January 4, a steel cage, created to support pouring of reinforced concrete for metro pillars, weighing one tonne, fell on the pedestrian section of the Sangam bridge on Saturday morning. However, no injuries had been reported.
On January 5, 2019, a 30-foot long piling rig, weighing 120 tonnes, collapsed at Nashik phata on the old Pune-Mumbai highway. No injuries had been reported during the incident.
In yet another incident, a reinforcement bar used to build the pier of the metro rail viaduct along the Mutha riverbed developed a bend near Lakdi pul (bridge) in May 2018. No injuries were reported, though Metro issued a notice to the contractor.
