PANJIM: A 28-year-old labourer from Bihar working at Ribandar for the Smart City Project, died on Monday after getting trapped under a mud pile at the project site in Panelim-Ribandar.
According to the eye witnesses, the worker was trapped under the mud pile in the morning at around 8 am, as a narrow trench collapsed at the project site.
The Old Goa Fire Station was called to rescue him. The fire station crew rushed to the spot and found the worker trapped inside the trench. He was pulled out of the mud pile and shifted him to the Goa Medical College and Hospital (GMCH), Bambolim, where he succumbed to his injuries.
“We received a call at around 8.10 am that a man was trapped under a mud pile. We rushed to the spot and rescued the man. As the mud was slippery, we faced problems in taking out the worker. An ambulance was called and the man was rushed to GMCH,” Old Goa Station Fire Officer (SFO), Ganesh Govekar told O Heraldo.
The Old Goa Police stated that the project manager Manikandan, site supervisor Nissanth Kumar and the contractor working for the Imagine Smart City Development Ltd (IPSCDL), acted in negligent manner by not providing safety gears and precautionary equipment to the labourer Angad Kumar from Belhar, Bihar.
The worker was instructed to level the mud inside the deep and narrow trench, in which he got trapped and died while carrying out the work of laying of sewage treatment pipe lines and building sewage treatment plant.
A case under Section 304 A read with 34 of IPC has been registered in this connection and further investigation is underway by Lady Police Sub-inspector Veronica Coutinho.
According to sources in IPSCDL, the worker was engaged in the laying of sewerage pipeline as part of the Smart City work at Ribandar.
“The work had started on October 12 and we had completed around 200 metres of work. We were quite ahead of the schedule when this unfortunate incident occurred. Following the tragic incident, the work was stopped and it will be resumed tomorrow,’” an engineer associated with the project, told O Heraldo.
Meanwhile, CCP ward councillor Sandra Maria Da Cunha expressed her shock over the incident saying she did not expect it to happen.
“This news came shocking to me as I did not expect it to happen. Considering that the area is situated along the banks of the river Mandovi, the soil is loose and gets filled with water during high tide. Utter precautions have to be taken now before they start excavating the road further,” the councillor said.
“This tragic incident has occurred in my Ward 30 and I have already conveyed to the Smart City officials that the work has to be immediately stopped and the roads should be restored. I have asked them to clear all the loose gravel taking extra safety measures as no worker should at any time face such danger,”Da Cunha said.
“Additionally, I have suggested that the sewerage line can be done in a trenchless manner and no digging should be carried out. I have also asked them to depute traffic personnel to monitor the traffic the entire day as a lot of chaos is seen along that road. Further I have instructed them to erect proper sign boards at every junction to avoid any inconvenience to the public,” she said.
“Our MLA Atanasio (Babush) Monserrate is always there with us and has assured full support and co-operation to help the people of Ribandar and address all their grievances,” the councillor said.
On October 12, locals of Ribandar had met the IPSCDL officials at the Corporation of the City of Panaji (CCP) office and told them that they will not allow the Smart City work if it is not done in phases and within the stipulated time-frame.
“If the work under Smart City project is not done phase wise, we will not allow it to proceed further. We would not allow it to be done rampantly. If phase I is not done properly, then how can we allow it to start phase II. We are ready to give even 40 days but the work should be complete. What happened in Panjim should not happen in Ribandar,” a Ribandar resident had said.
However, IPSCDL Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Sanjit Rodrigues, had assured that the work will be taken up in phases and completed within a time-frame of 30 days.
