BENGALURU: Three workers were killed on the spot after centring iron rods of an under-construction gas production dome, which was for a sewage treatment plant, collapsed on Monday morning. The incident happened on Nagawara main road opposite Lumbini Gardens at around 11.15 am. Six injured workers were admitted in the intensive care unit of two private hospitals, and their condition is said to be stable. The Bengaluru Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) is constructing the sewage treatment plant with a capacity to treat 110 MLD of sewage.
The deceased have been identified as Praburam (26), civil engineer from Tamil Nadu, Krishna Yadav (25), worker from Davanagere, and Sumanthkar (37), supervisor from West Bengal. Fire officials, National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) teams who rushed to the spot managed to rescue 23 labourers working there. But three of them could not be saved, including the site engineer.
The police officials said there was a deadline for the contractors to finish the Rs 360 crore project, expected to be completed by 2020. Thus the engineers were in a hurry and did not take proper safety measures at the site, they said.
BWSSB chairman Tushar Girinath said action will be taken against BWSSB officials too, Girinath added.
A senior police officer said the project was being carried out by Surat-based Enviro Control Associates India Pvt Ltd, a private contractor company, and a case of negligence causing death has been registered.
The company was on a ten-year contract given by the BWSSB. Based on a complaint by the injured workers, the police have registered an FIR and further investigations are on to verify how precisely the rods that were attached to each other came loose to come crashing down on the workers.
Seven officials, including BWSSB engineers, have been detained for questioning over the tragic incident.
There are 25 under-construction STPs at the 10-acre site and this dome was collecting the silt which would later be converted into gas.