One construction worker was crushed to death and three others were injured as a girder came down crashing at the Metro Rail site in St. Thomas Mount on Thursday.
This is the second fatal accident at a Metro Rail site in the city.
Dimple Shah (22) was caught under the launching girder — an iron structure used to place concrete piles between pillars along the elevated corridor — around 3.30 a.m. on Railway Station Road, on the stretch between stations coming up at Alandur and St. Thomas Mount.
The site is part of the elevated corridor of Chennai Metro Rail from St. Thomas Mount to Koyambedu, which is expected to become operational in early 2014.
Four arrested
St. Thomas Mount police, who registered a case under section 304 A (causing death by negligence) of the IPC, arrested site engineers Marudupandian and Sandeep Singh and safety officers Bineeth and Vimal.
Dimple Shah died on the spot after he sustained injuries on his face, chest and abdomen, St. Thomas Mount police said.
The three workers who were injured, Mumtaz Ansari, Nand Paswan and Samir Khan, are being treated in a city hospital.
According to S. Krishnamoorthy, chief general manager (public relations), Chennai Metro Rail Limited (CMRL), two labourers suffered grievous injuries, while one escaped with a minor injury.
“All three are out of danger now,” he said.
Accident in August
In August 2012, one worker died and six others were seriously injured following a crane boom failure near Pachaiyappa’s College.
On what caused the accident, Mr. Krishnamoorthy said: “From our initial observation, it appears that the lifting girder was in a state of unbalance, causing the launching girder to pitch forward and downwards.” The General Consultant engaged by CMRL will investigate further to ascertain the root cause, sources said.
Following the accident, police blocked vehicles from entering Railway Station Road.
Around 6 a.m., the spot beside Padavettamman temple was crowded with onlookers. “I woke up to a loud noise and rushed outside only to see a cloud of dust,” said A. Shanthi, a resident of Railway Station Road. Construction work at the site is being carried out by Larsen & Toubro (L&T), one of the contractors engaged by CMRL. The worker who died was a migrant labourer from Bihar, engaged by Shelmec, a sub-contractor.
Following post-mortem examination, which was at the Tambaram Taluk Government Hospital in Chromepet, his body was taken to the Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital in Chennai and it will be flown to Bihar.
.A project of such magnitude should be managed by people with expertise and experience and I dont think we have that in India currently..
This is not the second incident but third, the first one happened near Vadapalani. Hurrying to finish the project may not be the reason for these accidents. The previous accident where a crane beam was cut because either that crane didnt go through an annual certification if it can withstand sufficient load or they violated the loading procedures. Not sure about this one, but its really a peril for all of us passing through these places through bike or as pedestrians nowadays. Can the Metro take necessary steps to make sure the human lives are not taken for granted anymore?
Poor Supervision might leads to this accident.Also CMRL should conduct regular safety classes and awareness programmes to the labours
Nowadays, most of the construction workers hail from outside Tamilnadu and in all fairness, the law enforcing agencies should devise some ways to avoid recurrence. Why not the voluntary organisations take up the plight of these workers and see that, at least their family get suitable compensation without interference of middlemen.
This shows a black sign on safety and protection department.This
accident would've prevented if such departments were carefully signalled
regarding the condition of the crane.This shows that engineers must be
more trained on safely handling the equipment rather than using it.
Whats the value for the human given by the construction companies. This is second fatal accident in 5 months. Arresting few poor guys is not the solution and construction companies compromise the safety to cut down the cost.Is the human values are cheaper than the money. Arrest the chairman of the company, then things will be alright
What action the Government/Authority is going to take against L&T? This is second accident by the company in the span of 4 months in Chennai alone.
Saw the video of the Mr.Somasundaram, stating that it happens. Looks
like the cost of their poor management is Rs 9 Lakhs per person. Didn't
a crane fall causing death before near Pachiappa's college.
Majority of the labour force are from North India and they chase
different Metro Cities for their Survival and to support the rest of
their family members. It is the responsibility of CMRL along with the
other Contractors to ensure utmost safety for all the workers at Site.
Just because of the fact such major accidents are unavoidable in
projects of this kind, it cannot be presumed to be normal. It is
really sad to note that an young man, who had come for survival had
lost his life and Monetary Compensation cannot heal the emotional
bondage.
CMRL should strengthen its safety audits far and wide.
Hindu, Can we have information about insurance, compensation coverage or
other benefits given to these workers by said contractors or metro? Like
to see how Indian companies taking up labor welfare.
In western countries where conditions for contracting and sub contracting are strict, employers can’t get away with work related deaths, injuries perpetrated and triggered by collective callousness and hazardous and unsafe working conditions.Passing the buck wont sell. The managements are through various legal acts required to report accidents, ill health and other dangerous occurrences as well as safety regulations at work places to government agencies which in turn collect the data and do researches regarding risks, regulation and prevention. In our country despite several labor laws and employment rights most workers especially unskilled and semi skilled workers are ignorant about unfair labor practices even as work related deaths and injuries continue to rise. The position of migrant workers are pathetic as they are mostly treated as undocumented laborers. If a migrant laborer is killed in an accident or grieviously injured in harmful condition who is there to take up his case?
It is indeed very unfortunate. India is way beyond in Labour management. Security of labourers is of paramount importance as they are the ones who toil in the sun to make sure that the so called 'professionals' live a luxurious life. I really do wonder if any of the agencies contracting the labours do know anything about the prevalent 'Labour laws' in India.
Another cheap life lost, few noises will be made and contrator will cover up things, but now owes more money to officials.... Its always tragic to hear loss of life but we in India are so used to this that a labourer life is simply nothing. Be it due incompetency or carelessness, labour safety norms are always flaunted. If I were a reporter, I would have carried out a story of the retributions of this incident, after 2 months, on who was the culprit and how labourers family have coped with their loss. But, I guess he isnt that important albeit to his family.
Another tragic and disastrous incident has taken place and an innocent soul has passed away. This is an irreparable loss for the family of the victim and any amount of insurance is not going to bring back the soul. The safety measures must be adequately streamlined and proper care must be taken to ensure the same. Periodic safety audits by reputed firms must be conducted at the workplace and training in safety techniques must also be conducted. The company which is engaged in the project must take comprehensive term assurance / insurance policies to cover all the employees. Improvement in the standards in the workplace is a must for all projects.
This is nothing but violation of safety norms. L&T is global
contractor and they run many projects across Globe. In other countries
they are forced to follow all the safety procedures. The same company
simply ignore the safety norms and public are being taken for ride. Am
using the stretch between Guindy and Saidapet daily to go to my work
place. Its so pathetic the way they dig the road (and leave it as it
is). Few days back they started constructing Chinnamalai Railways
station. The big blocks are lined up in middle of the road with out
any indicator those who travel in the night (No lights or florescent
stickers) and the road is in a unusable state. Who will bell the
cat.. I think L&T has themselves decided that they can do any thing in
India.. which of very bad taste and not appropriate to the reputation
of such organisations.
"Safety" is something which is always overlooked by the Indian Construction sector. Usually, workers are not allowed to get inside the "red zone", the zone where handling of heavy materials through cranes takes place.
Unfortunately, i have seen many workers "climbing" and "standing" on these heavy equipments while working and that too without PPE (Personal protective equipment).
In india, safety is projected as a company's requirement but not "personal". Workers must be educated that "Safety" is for them and not for the company.
The heavy steel girder is to be lifted with correct balance with at least two support slings of correct lifting capacity and the tools and tackles are to be periodically tested anc certified by the competent authority. THERE IS NORMAL TENDENCY AMONG THE WORKERS TO LIFT THE WEIGHTS WITH OUT PROPER SUPPPORT CAUSING UNBALANCE. More over what was the need to carry out such heavy jobs at that odd hours when the supervision and awareness will be at its low level? Let ther be awareness for future to avoid such accidents.
I have always believed that a picture is worth a thousand words. Please,
some more pictures in your articles will help readers get a better
understanding of the ground situation. Regardless, I love your
newspaper.
God forbid, but, imagine the disater it will be if the track comes down when a metro train is moving on it... who gives assurance that nothing of that sort can happen?? In India we have to live on prayer, not competence or integrity.
We have to concentrate more on safety, which is not there in most of the construction project in India.
Two fatal incidents in six months should require stoppage of work till a safety and quality
review is done and steps are taken to correct the procedural,workmanship defects are
rectified.And this should also cover other Metro work being undertaken by same entity.
Just accidents do happen in industrial sites especially ones as
complicated as involving constructing a massive civil structure through
crowded roads. The insistence of safety must come from the client in
this case from the Government. Unrealistic expectations on their
contractors can result in such incidents.
Never am I comfortable near a construction site in India. In the cities I normally visit in India, namely Hyderabad and Chennai, I have been commenting about the dreadful safety standards in both cities. Massive projects such as the Metro in Chennai carry huge risks under such conditions. The amount of traffic that is allowed in such close proximity and in many cases right under the construction of elevations that are half built and still work-in-progress gives one the creeps. Safety standards in India are very poor and so is life in India. I feel dejected every time I am in India that this country has so much to offer and how all resources are left unprotected and are being wasted and abused by politicians and the public.
Siva's comment is very true. Companies should be made liable for paying
large compensations to the families of these victims. Only when they
face the possibility of paying 50 lakh rupees for every death will they
strive to ensure that it never happens again.
For every bridge built in India there is always atleast a crash even before it is completed :(
Some it gives a feel that the constructions are like gravestone to an unknown brother who worked so hard on it.
Few years back, the bridge crashed @ hyderabad on the day it is open and few died.
It seems there is no way to avoid such accidents.
Systematically, such incidents are approached with questions like "is the human cost too much to pay for such developments?" and no resolution is reached. Let me state the obvious: the human cost is too much. No metro unless safety is assured!
Most of labourers who were/are killed in accidents during constructions of such mega projects as the Metro Railway are migrants and the propertyless daily wagers from many different states. They are hired by the agents of the private contractors for cheap labour without any guarantee of compensations to their family members in case of any loss to their limbs or deaths during manual construction works. I implore the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu Jayalalitha to immediately give them the fullest financial assistance to the family members and parents of those deceased labourers. Before the work begins for the next day, The Tamil Nadu Government and its Private Construction Partners must ensure that all the manual workers hired for this Metro Project are given all kinds of medical insurances and free accommodation, education and food for their children.
Another reason why this construction should be completed sooner.
Construction work has eaten most of the path for vehicle movement. I
doubt what big benefits the construction can bring at the expense of
motorist suffering.
After the introduction of the new economic polity,outsourcing of works
undertaken by the government has been the norm.The principal employer
owes no responsibility to the lifes of employees employed in such
works.Indian industrialists do not care about the living standards of
their employees.The care of employer to his or her employee includes
safety of life of the employee.It has been given a go-by.
Very sad to read about this.
Chennai Metro should put in proper measures for such things not occur
from now on.
Such accidents do take place because the companies are in a hurry to complete the project and make fast bucks at the expense of safety. Many times safety norms are flouted and safety audits are not carried out by the officials concerned for such risky operations. In India the life of a labourer is cheap compared to an executive and this trend should change. Any life is valuable and one cannot unncessarily risk it by not following the safety norms. It is true of road accidents as well.
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