Chennai: A 20-year-old construction worker died and another was injured after a giant crane toppled on them at the metro rail work site in Saidapet on Saturday.
Saturday’s tragedy has taken the total death toll at metro work sites to three ever since the project implementation began in the city in 2010.
A senior official from Chennai Metro Rail Limited told Deccan Chronicle that the 60-tonne capacity crane, which was lifting a counterweight from one side of the diaphragm wall and loading it on a truck on the other side, toppled and fell on two workers who were welding iron rods at the other side of the diaphragm wall.
The body of the deceased worker, identified as Ranjith Biswal (20), from Orissa, was kept at the Royapettah morgue after autopsy. The injured person, Tira Nayak (19), also hailing from Orissa, was admitted to the government general hospital for multiple limb fracture. The two workers who worked overnight were not far from ending their shift before the giant crane, operated by Kathiravan, collapsed around 6.15 am.
Attributing the fall to a shift in balance, the CMRL officer said that the counterweight was being loaded on the truck to be transported from the Saidapet work site to Thousand Lights where it would be used for operating a ‘grab’ that helps remove excavated earth. However, the CMRL official did not rule out negligence by the crane operator who was later arrested by the Saidapet police for causing death due to negligence and grievous injuries.
According to Metro officials, the crane was hired by Algurier, to whom Gammon India Ltd, the original contractor who had won the CMRL contract for constructing underground stations on Saidapet to Mayday Park.
Diaphragm wall construction was immediately stopped at the Saidapet site, while tunnelling works being carried out by Russian firm Mosmetrostroy Ltd continued as usual. Metro officials who began preliminary investigations claimed that the crane’s third party inspection certificate was valid.
Next: Contract labourers lack insurance cover
Contract labourers lack insurance cover
Chennai: Thousands of contract labourers in the city who often work, risking their lives, lack proper insurance cover, a proper registry on their number and awareness of schemes available for their benefit, a fact reiterated by the loss of yet another worker’s life at a Metro construction site on Saturday, the third since the inception of the Metro Rail project.
According to officials with the Labour Department, there is no compulsory registration of labourers in the city. “We are trying to create awareness about the presence of such schemes, and so far nearly 30 lakh labourers have registered.
On registration, the worker is entitled to get a compensation on accidental death which starts at '1 lakh and additional funeral expenses. The money can be availed by the family even if the worker lost his life away from his workplace,” says an official.
A senior state labour department official says, “Workers are covered by the Employment Compensation Act, the amount being determined by the age and salary of the worker. The compensation could be a maximum of Rs 8 lakh.”
Metro rail officials claim that every construction worker on their project is insured and compensation up to Rs 7 lakh is paid on accidental deaths.
Anant Paswan, an employee in a private firm, says, “Thousands of labourers come from the poorer Northern states in search of employment in cities where construction is booming. They face abuse, bad working conditions and cramped accommodation where basic amenities are lacking.”
