Chennai: Chennai Metro Rail Limited (CMRL) continues to be in the news for wrong reasons. The project witnessed its fourth accident in a month's time. A 21-year-old crane operator suffered burn injuries at a CMRL work site near Alandur Metro station on Saturday morning. Two workers had a lucky escape. The incident occurred even as memories of the tragic death of a 30-year-old techie a month ago at the same stretch were still fresh in people's minds.
On June 17, L. Giridharan of Madipakkam was on his way to office at Kodambakkam when an iron scaffolding fell on his head killing him. Three persons had been arrested then. Saturday’s incident occurred along the Alandur-St Thomas Mount metro stretch where construction was still in progress. Two workers, Munna (22) and Manoj Kumar of Bihar were standing in the hydraulic man lift.
Around 11 am, the crane operator Umapathi Sangam Lal (21) of Uttar Pradesh operated the lift when it came into contact with a high tension wire. The two workers on the lift were lucky as there were rubber washers on the surface where they were standing, fire personnel said.
However, the electricity passed through the equipment and the crane operator in the cabin suffered burn injuries. Fellow workers rescued him. He was rushed to a nearby private hospital. Umapathi is said to have suffered 50 per cent burns, police sources said.
Two fire tenders from Guindy were pressed into service who rescued the two workers caught on the lift. “We used a crane and passed ropes to them with which they were brought down on to a bridge. The accident seemed to have caused due to a electric short circuit,” said C. Karthikeyan, Assistant District Fire Officer.
Meanwhile, St Thomas Mount police personnel said the workers did not come forward to register a complaint. No case was registered in connection with the incident until Saturday evening. Traffic was affected in the stretch for about an hour following the incident. Later in the night Umapathi was shifted to another private hospital on Greams road for advance treatment.
Past incidents
June 17: Giridharan Lakshmanan (30) of Madipakkam was killed after a iron scaffolding from a CMRL site fell on him from a height of more than 50 feet, killing him instantly. Three persons including the site engineer and safety engineers were arrested by St Thomas Mount police for causing death due to negligence.
A week before this tragedy, a windshield of a car was damaged after a iron rod fell on it from a CMRL construction site near Alandur. Incidentally, a windshield of a car got damaged owing to a similar fall at a MRTS work site near Puzhuthivakkam a day after Giridharan's death.
July 20: A cab driver, Balakrishnan (30) of Royapettah had a close shave after an iron rod fell on his vehicle while crossing a metro rail work site at the entrance of the city airport. The bonnet of the car was damaged after an iron fastener said be weighing 25 kg fell on it. Balakrishnan was on his way to the international terminal to pick up a customer when the accident happened around 10 pm.
