Irrigation Minister T. Harish Rao has expressed shock over the death of seven persons when the roof of pump house draft tube of Kaleswaram project near Thippapur village in Rajanna Sircilla district.
Mr. Harish Rao said that the Project Executive Engineer had intimated him from the site of incident near the Thippapur Package 10 of the project.
Of seven deceased, six belonged to Jharkhand and Odisha States and one from Mulugu of Jayashankar Bhupalapalli district, according to Sircilla district officials.
The Minister expressed his condolences to the families of the deceased and said the contract agency announced an ex gratia of ₹5 lakh to each of the families of the deceased. The government would extend all required help to the families, he added.
Engineer-in-Chief Muralidhara Rao said a five tonne granite slab collapsed when there was an unexpected blast in air pockets in the roof of draft tube.
The workers were coming out for the lunch break around the same time, he said. Just a few seconds earlier engineers had emerged from the same passage.
The department ordered an inquiry into the incident and the advice and suggestions of experts would be taken after the report was submitted, Mr. Muralidhar Rao said.
