COIMBATORE: In the fourth such death in Tamil Nadu in the last 10 days, a 36-year-old man died after he fell into a construction pit dug up on Siruvani Main Road in the district early Sunday morning. The pit was dug by the state highways department as part of works for the Coimbatore Ring Road Project.
The deceased has been identified as V Karthikeyan of Kannimaar Kovil Street of Devarayapuram near Thondamuthur in Coimbatore district.
According to police, Karthikeyan was employed as the zonal manager of a two-wheeler spare parts company. Early on Sunday, he was returning home on his bike from the Coimbatore Junction railway station via the Siruvani Main Road after attending a meeting in Bengaluru the day before.
At 4 am, as he neared Chellappa Goundan Pudur near Madampatti, where ring road construction work was under way, he fell into the 16-foot-deep pit with his bike. He sustained severe injuries to his head and died on the spot, police said.
Workers who arrived later in the morning spotted the body and informed Perur police.
‘Barricades placed at construction site, but there were no streetlights’
His body was sent to the Coimbatore Government Hospital for an autopsy and was handed over to the family by Sunday evening, sources said. Speaking to TNIE, a police official said, “There were barricades placed near the construction site, however, there were no streetlights.
Since large warning signs or red reflective stickers were not placed there, he could have fallen into the pit.” He further added, “We will send a letter to the highways department seeking an explanation as to who is responsible for public safety near construction sites, the contractor or the highways department?”
Asked about this, a senior official from the state highways department denied the police’s allegations, stating that work has been ongoing for the past 12 days. “We ensured safety norms are followed before starting work. We placed Go Slow and Take Diversion boards.
The barricades had red reflective stickers on them. The death could have been caused by the motorist’s own negligence. Still, we have planned to set up blinker lights at the site as an additional measure,” he said.
A case has been registered under Sections 285, 106 (i) of BNS. Earlier, on August 14, 25-year-old I Manikandan, an electrician from Valuvar in Kuthalam, fell into a construction pit on the Mayiladuthurai-Tiruvarur Road near Elanthankudi village where bridge construction works were being carried out by the state highway department.
Following this, local residents staged a road blockade alleging that the site lacked barricades and warning signs.
On August 19, two youngsters from Theni, T Krishnamoorthi (21) and K Jayaprakash (22), who were on their way to Vembakottai from Badhrakalipuram, died after their two-wheeler hit a mound of soil and fell into a pit dug up as part of bridge construction works near Nathampatti.