NILGIRIS: A 21-year-old worker hailing from Jharkhand died and another was rescued after they were buried alive following a land slip at a construction site in Udhagamandalam on Monday morning. Police arrested two persons including the building owner in connection with the incident. The deceased is Rizwan, 22.
According to sources, four workers from Jharkhand were engaged in laying the foundation for constructing a house and retaining wall on three cents of land beside the St Thomas Church road opposite to the arboretum when the earth caved in burying Rizwan (22) and Jahir (26) alive. The other two escaped as they were working at a distance.
The plot is owned by Mathew. A police team led by SP P Sundaravadivel and Fire and Rescue service personnel led by the Ooty assistant fire officer Hariramakrishnan used excavators to rescue the two. Rizwan experienced breathing difficulties and was taken to the Ooty government hospital. He died without responding to the treatment.
Chief Minister MK Stalin announced Rs 2 lakh solatium for the kin of Rizwan and Rs 50,000 for Jahir who is undergoing treatment at the government hospital.
SP Sundaravadivel told TNIE that they rescued the workers within 15 minutes of receiving information and also gave oxygen support to Rizwan.
Police registered a case against the house owner and supervisor Nazarullah under three IPC sections including 304 (ii) (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) and are looking out for the contractor who engaged the workers.
District Collector P Aruna visited the construction site and ordered building owners to inform about their construction works to the district administration.
Speaking to the reporters she said the building owner had sought permission to operate an excavator but it was denied because the site is in a place vulnerable to land slips. So he engaged workers as there was no need to get permission for engaging manual work.
“Those constructing buildings should ensure safety of workers during construction activities. We are planning to convene a meeting with building engineers and those who are in the construction field to prevent such tragedy in future. A team has been formed to check the ongoing construction works across the district,” she said.
It may be recalled that six women were killed at a landslip in Mel Gandhi Nagar near Ooty on February 7.