Chennai: A 63-year-old man from Andhra Pradesh died on Monday night after he fell into a 30-feet trench dug by the metro water as part of its ongoing work at Moulivakkam here, barely half a km from his home. Local residents said the work was being carried out at the 300-metre stretch of the street for the past one year without any safety measures. Naagaiyah (63), a farmer and a casual labourer of Udhayagiri in Nellore, had come to AGS Colony in Moulivakkam to his daughter’s house two days ago.
He was returning home from the Moulivakkam Main Road along with his son-in-law Antony, on Monday night at around 9 pm. When the duo were crossing the pit at the Sabari Nagar extension, the senior citizen in an attempt to give way for a bike moved slightly and fall into the pit. Naagaiyah’s nephew Chandrasekaran of Korukkupet said the area had poor lighting. In the fall, the victim’s head and face got severely injured.
Naagaiyay’s body was immediately taken from the pit and sent to the KMC Hospital for post-mortem. It was later handed over to his relatives on Tuesday.“The street is 30 feet wide. As work on the stretch is on, only one person can go at a time,” said B. Govindhasamy, secretary, Sabari Nagar and AGS Office Staff Colony Welfare Association. He said the association had been repeatedly submitting petitions and making representations to authorities to complete the work soon.
The work was getting delayed after a similar project was undertaken at Sakthi Nagar near here and men were diverted there.“Absence of streetlights in the area is one of the reasons for the tragedy. No official from metro water came to the spot until 11 pm. After some argument, the pit was closed with unused banners and waste iron sheets and rods,” said an activist Azhagar Senthil, founder president of Awareness Creating on Public Rights.
“Similar work at several nearby places at Ramakrishna Nagar, Mangal Nagar and Ambal Nagar has also affected the connectivity to the residential areas. Work can be completed in one place and started in another, so that diversion is easy for the public,” he said. When a local official of metro water was contacted, he said, “We sent our officials to inspect the site immediately after hearing the incident. The pit has been closed now and we have ordered early completion of the work.”
