1 dead, 5 injured as workers fall into storm water drain at Sewri

Mumbai: In a repeat of recent mishaps at construction sites in the city leading to the death of workers, a 22-year-old labourer was killed and five of his colleagues were injured on Sunday morning when they fell into a storm water drain (SWD) under reconstruction at Sewri. Police have booked the contractor and supervisors for failing to provide safety gear to the workers and causing death by negligence.
The deceased was identified as Mehboob Alam Ismail Ali, a resident of Haji Bunder, Sewri, while the injured workers were identified as Mohammad Sajjeman, 24, Abdul Karim Mohammad Ibrahim, 40, Shaffikul Alam Islam, 22, Noor Salim Abdul Lati, 27, and Mohammad Salim Shahjan, 20, said police officials.
According to BMC’s disaster management department, the incident occurred near Sewri Gadi Bunder along Haji Bunder Road when the workers – engaged by M/S Acute Designs, the contractor – were repairing a box drain. “All the labourers were rescued by locals and taken to the hospital,” said the note issued by the civic body. While Ismail Ali was declared brought dead, the other five were admitted to KEM hospital, Parel, it noted.
“The condition of injured workers is being monitored and we are following up with doctors,” said Abhijit Bangar, additional municipal commissioner, projects.
The Sewri police subsequently booked Preetesh Jain, Rohit Kadam and other officials of M/S Acute Designs, as they did not provide proper safety equipment such as helmets, ropes, jackets, oxygen masks, and torches to the labourers, said police officials. All the accused were booked under sections 304A (causing death by negligence), 336 (act endangering life or personal safety of others), 337 (causing hurt by act endangering life or personal safety of others), 338 (causing grievous hurt by act endangering life or personal safety of others) and 34 (common intention) of the Indian Penal Code.
The BMC too issued a show cause notice to the contractor asking why action should not be initiated for apparent negligence in adhering to the safety protocol. “We are also recirculating SoPs (standard operating procedures) among all contractors to sensitise them about safety precautions in light of the incident,” said Bangar.
Sunday’s incident was the latest in a string of recent mishaps wherein workers died due to lack of adequate safety measures. As reported by HT, three workers died and one was critically injured on March 12 in Borivali when the scaffolding on which they were working collapsed. Two days later, on March 14, one worker died when he fell from the third floor of an under-construction building in Jogeshwari. In both cases, contractors were booked for causing death by negligence and other charges.