Mumbai: The Chembur police on Saturday registered a case against a civil contractor, site supervisor, engineer and labour contractor after a worker was killed and five others injured in a fall from an under-construction building in Chembur earlier that day.
The incident occurred around 10am at Building No. 36, a project by the Adityaraj Group, where eight workers were installing a car lift on the sixth floor. According to police, a case has been registered under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) for acts endangering life due to negligence. The police said the investigation is ongoing and more individuals may be booked as the investigation unfolds.
Eyewitness Soni Devi, sister-in-law of one of the workers, said the accident took place when a temporary platform, locally known as a ‘pranchi’, a metal surface overlaid with plywood, bent and snapped under the weight of concrete slabs meant for the lift. Six of the eight workers fell when the platform gave way.
The deceased was identified as Desapogu Ramanjaneyulu, a native of Kurnool in Andhra Pradesh. Ramanjaneyulu moved to Mumbai 35 years ago with his father, who had worked with the Adityaraj Group since its inception in 1967, and rose from being a daily wage labourer to a mason. He is survived by his wife and four daughters.
The injured were rushed to Rajawadi Hospital in Ghatkopar.
“The collapse happened in a split second. Some of us tried to hold on to the wall we were building, clutching concrete blocks,” said Sandeep Kumar, 18, one of the injured. Sandeep and Ramesh Kumar, 19, both came from Dumka in Jharkhand only 15 days earlier. Both are in the trauma ward of Rajawadi Hospital and stable. “There was a safety net on the fifth floor,” said Sandeep. “It broke the impact of the fall, otherwise none of us would have survived.”
Gunadhar Rai, 22, sustained severe injuries to his left leg and was brought in gasping, medical staffers said. Doctors said his condition remains critical pending a CT scan and that he faces the risk of paralysis below the neck if the spinal injury is confirmed. Kush Rai, 30, also sustained serious injuries. Gunadhar and Kush are from the same village in Jharkhand.