Two women workers died and two others were injured when the retaining wall of an under-construction cellar caved in resulting in the tragedy.
The incident took place around 10 a.m. on Monday at Kondapur opposite the Google office under the Madhapur police station limits. While the women died on the spot, the injured workers escaped with minor injuries and were shifted to a nearby hospital.
The two workers who died were identified as A. Bharatamma, a native of Nizamabad district, and P. Kistamma, a native of Medak district. The police official said that Kistamma’s husband Papaiah and another worker named Hanumanthu were injured while Bharatamma’s husband Balaiah and Hanumanthu’s wife managed to escape without injuries. All the six workers had come to work at the site for just one day, said a police official.
‘Builder did not take enough precautions to avoid such an incident’, said the police.
According to the police, the incident took place at a construction site wherein a 40-foot-deep pit was dug to construct a cellar. Six workers had gone to the bottom to remove stones. “Generally, the walls are supposed to have a small slant to avoid such incidents from taking place. Usually, holes are also drilled in the cellar walls and filled with cement to make it strong. Such precautions were not taken,” said an official.
The part or side of the cellar, where the two women were working, had only mud, which is why most of the rubble fell on them, said police officials. The two men who sustained minor injuries and two others who escaped unharmed were a little away from the two deceased, pointed out an official. “The other sides had hard rocks, so nothing collapsed that side. The work at the site began about five or six months ago,” said the official.
After the bodies of Kistamma and Bharatamma were retrieved, they were sent to the Osmania General hospital’s mortuary. Based on a complaint lodged by husband of one of the women, the Madhapur police registered a case against Vamsi Ram Builders under section 304 (part 2) of the Indian Penal Code. “He has not named anyone because he does not know the names of the owners,” said a police official.
According to the website www.vamsirambuilders.com , the owner of the company is B. Subba Reddy. The site also shows some of the projects the company has completed in the city.
Police officials said he was not present at the construction site on Monday morning. “We have not taken him in for questioning. We will do it once we ascertain all facts, as to who was responsible for the incident,” said a senior official.
