Four barricades came crashing at a Namma Metro site near Chandra Layout on Wednesday morning, injuring three people — Shashi Kumar B, Sachin Kumar and Nagesh CP. But what was worse was the apathy of officials at the site.
“I was in my car near the Buntara Sangha when I saw four metro barricades fall simultaneously. Three two-wheeler riders were injured in the mishap. There were nearly 20 people working at the site but no one came forward to help the injured. Finally, we rushed them to a nearby hospital,” said Umesh MS, a witness.
“I escaped a major accident in a fraction of a second. The moment I saw the barricade falling, I jumped off my bike and escaped with bruises on my right arm. The three of us who were injured shouted for help, but no official came to our rescue. They could have at least used a crane to lift the barricades that fell on one person’s leg, but they did nothing,” said Sachin.
When contacted, Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) personnel blamed the contractor, Simplex Infrastructure Limited, for the mishap.
Chief of public relations at BMRCL, BL Yashvanth Chavan, saidinvestigations revealed that the barricades fell due to over-stacking of mud removed for pile cap work, which was due to the contractor’s negligence. Based on the inquiry conducted by BMRCL, it was decided to impose a penalty of Rs2 lakh on the contractor. Besides, the site project manager, the site assistant project manager, the site safety, health and environment manager, the resident engineer and the general consultant to BMRCL were demobilised from the project with immediate effect.
Simplex, which is the contractor for Reach 2 (Magadi Road to Mysore Road terminal), would bear the medical expenses of and pay compensation to the injured, Chavan said.
However, experts felt that though contractors were functionally responsible, BMRCL should have ensured that they did a good job. “There’s no large-scale construction happening in Bangalore that I can compare the metro work to. However, steps have to be taken to ensure people’s safety. Even one death is regrettable,” said Ashwin Mahesh, member, Agenda for Bengaluru Infrastructure and Development (ABIDe) Task Force.
Another ABIDe official, however, said that BMRCL’s contractors were fairly good, and that the accident was due to negligence of field staff. “Besides, the stretch towards Vijayanagar is a congested area, and works like metro construction are bound to face problems. But they have to be careful,” the official said.
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