HYDERABAD: In a tragic incident, five migrant workers died on the spot when the cable of a crane snapped at an under-construction pump house of Palamuru Rangareddy Lift Irrigation Scheme (PRLIS) at Regumangadda in Kollapur mandal in Nagarkurnool district on Thursday night. The incident occurred at around 10.30 pm when the workers were being lowered into the construction area, located at a depth of 10 metres, on an iron platform using the crane.
The pump house was being constructed under package 1 of the PRLIS. The workers were about to begin their late night shift to carry out concrete works. Fellow workers raised an alarm and also tried to pull the victims out of the pump house. However, all five died on the spot. While four migrant workers were from Jharkhand, the fifth was identified as Srinu, a native of Nidadavole in Andhra Pradesh.
The police personnel, who rushed to the spot, shifted the bodies to Osmania General Hospital for post-mortem examination and not to the Nagarkurnool District Hospital, which is nearer.Following the incident, several workers gathered at the pump house and staged a protest. They alleged that though such accidents have occurred at the project site in the past, leading to workers suffering injuries, the contracting agency did not initiate any measures to ensure their safety.
“The agency has been managing such accidents by compensating the victims with very little money and sending them back to their native places,” they added.According to sources, around 1,200 employees are currently working in four shifts at the pump house.Police registered a case and started an investigation to determine the cause of the accident.
BJP State president Bandi Sanjay Kumar and TPCC chief A Revanth Reddy, meanwhile, expressed their condolences to the bereaved families and demanded the State government to announce to ex-gratia to the kin of the deceased workers.
They also demanded action against those responsible for the accident. Jana Sena chief Pavan Kalyan has also urged the State government to conduct an inquiry to find out whether the incident occurred due to human negligence or machine failure.