The Hindu : Two quarry workers crushed to death as boulders roll down

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Jul 11, 2003

Southern States

Southern States - Tamil Nadu-Chennai

Two quarry workers crushed to death as boulders roll down

By K. Manikandan

CHENNAI JULY 10. Two workers of a quarry at Tiruneermalai were crushed to death on the spot and eight others injured when boulders rolled down this morning. Damodaran (30) was a quarry worker, while 35-year old Govindan was employed as a lorry loadman.

According to Perumal, one of the injured being treated at a private hospital in Tambaram, the rocks began to slide and even before they could realise what was happening. It fell down with great force. Damodaran of Tirukkovilur was working on the ground, while Govindan was standing on the lorry when the boulders fell on them. In the impact, the lorry was also severely damaged. Perumal, living in the vicinity of Tiruneermalai said he had been working in the quarry for nearly ten years and that he had never come across such an incident.

Semmalai, living in Elayanarkuppam near Tiruneermalai said he was picking up the bits and pieces of the blue metal (`chakka') when the incident occurred. He said that boulders fell from a great height killing Damodaran and Govindan.

One of the workers who was involved in baling out water in the quarry, taken on lease by R.Gurunathan for a five-year period, said the boulders came down so swiftly and none of them even could think of running away. Workers said the `rock-slide' might have been caused due to the "the soil holding the boulders becoming soft following rains in the past few days" and added the boulders had fallen from a height of nearly 100-feet.

Meanwhile, the driver of another lorry picking up the blue metal at the far end of the quarry, spanning 1.82 hectares, noticed the incident and while he has backing up, lost control of the vehicle, as he was reportedly shocked at the sight of the boulders coming down. As a result, the lorry fell on a tractor and turned turtle. Two of its occupants sustained injuries.

Among the injured, Palani and Semmalai are still in the hospital with the former needing a surgery. Others who were discharged after treatment were Perumal, Shanthi, Prema, Manikandan, Kristuvam and Munusamy. According to personnel of the Shankar Nagar police station, activity in the quarry has been halted indefinitely and work would be permitted to resume only after an inspection by officials of the Mines Department.

As news about the incident spread, workers from adjacent quarries gathered in large numbers at the accident spot.

The accident also brings into focus, the safety measures and other aspects pertaining to welfare of workers employed in the quarries. One of the injured workers, who pleaded for anonymity said they would work for long hours in batches of four and would be paid based on the number of lorries they loaded. It may be recalled that on July 7, a worker at the Mangalagiri quarry in Tiruneermalai died, when an iron rod, used by drillers fell down on his neck.

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