TEAM HERALD
CANACONA: Three more bodies were recovered while two more bodies were sighted in the debris of the collapsed Ruby Residency building on Thursday, as the sophisticated demolition machinery which arrived from Pune was assigned to recovery operations to clear the rubble. Officials have stated that a total of 27 bodies have so far been recovered from the site.
PWD Minister Sudhin Dhavalikar, who was supervising operations at the site throughout the day, declared that the bodies of all workers would be pulled out within the next 24 hours with the help of sophisticated machinery.
“The NDRF, fire services and PWD workers will now assist the machinery squad in pulling out the bodies,” said Dhavlikar. Before the recovery operations with the help of the ‘Volvo Pockline Crushing Machine’ could begin at about 1.30 pm, workers involved in manual operations pulled out two bodies from the debris
The ‘Volvo Pockline Crushing Machine’ quickly tore apart portions of the collapsed building and managed to extricate one body, while two more bodies were reportedly sighted under the debris.
With the requisitions of heavy duty machinery for the rescue and recovery work, the manual workforce has been withdrawn from the site.
When a reporter sought to know if the government had a proper figure of workers trapped under the debris, Dhavalikar shot back: “We will ensure that all bodies are pulled out from the collapsed building and only then the demolition of the adjacent buildings will be taken up.”
Meanwhile, around 48 workers complained that they were not provided with food on Thursday and that, they were not allowed to enter the Ruby Residency Complex gate.
The workers told reporters in the presence trade union activists that the officials did not even permit a Ruby Residency occupant from handing over Rs 1000 to them to enable them to go out and eat some food.
Accusing the state administration of indifferent treatment towards workers from Jarkhand and Bihar, All Goa Builders Workers Association representatives warned that they would protest at the site on Friday, if the same indifferent treatment is continued.
One representative complained that when they had tried to brief the administration of the situation, a Mamlatdar refused to meet them and the police did not allow them to meet the South Goa collector.
“This is very unfair and inhuman to keep someone hungry. We will see that the workers are not treated indifferently and we will ensure that they are provided food on a daily basis till they make their own arrangements,” the representative said.
When media persons confronted Dhavalikar on this issue, some officials accompanying the minister denied the allegations and insisted that the workers and their families had been provided with food provisions like rice bags and other things.
