Three construction workers were killed and around 15 others were injured after an under-construction water tank collapsed in Bengaluru’s Amruthahalli on Monday morning. Around 25 workers were present at the 30-acre plot where a new Sewage Treatment Plant (STP) was being built when the under-construction tank collapsed on them. DCP North-East told TNM that the workers at the site were wearing helmets but no protective suits.
Eight fire engines have been sent to the spot and one NDRF team is carrying out search operations to rescue people who have been buried under the debris. So far, 15 people have been pulled out of the debris. Six of them have been rushed to Columbia Asia Hospital and four of them have been taken to Chaitanya Hospital. Operations are on to rescue the rest. The workers are from Bihar and West Bengal.
According to DCP North-East, the mishap took place when the construction workers were constructing the ceiling of the water tank and the central portion of the ceiling collapsed onto the workers. A pillar, which was constructed to support the inside part of the tank, had developed a crack, resulting in the collapse of the centering. A slurge clearing unit was being constructed and they were constructing a dome. The weight of the dome was too much which resulted in the pillar developing cracks. Hence the centering collapsed.
The project was being carried out after BWSSB (Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board) had issued tenders to construct the STP. BWSSB officials have arrived at the spot to take stock of the situation and Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Minister Krishna Byre Gowda has also reached the spot.
A case of criminal negligence has been registered in connection with the mishap.
This is the second incident of a structural collapse being reported from Bengaluru in the past two months. On April 5, two migrant workers were killed after a portion of an under-construction multi-level car parking facility collapsed in Bengaluru’s northern suburb of Yeshwantpur. Both the deceased were labourers engaged in the construction project within the APMC premises.