One daily wage labourer died on Wednesday while digging a storm water drain in Bengaluru’s RR Nagar after he was trapped in a pile of mud. The accident occurred at around 3pm when Madivalappa and others had gone down to dig a storm water drain near Padmavati Meenakshi Kalyana Mantapa on part of the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB). The workers were engaged to connect an underground sewage pipe.
26-year-old Madivalappa, had migrated from Kalaburgi to Bengaluru two years ago and had started working with the current contractor only three days ago after six months of job hunt. His wife is working in a garment factory and did not know her husband was working as a labourer for the BWSSB.
During this work, a section of mud wall collapsed and six persons were trapped under the mud. Others alerted the Karnataka Fire and Emergency Personnel personnel and they rushed to the spot. While others could escape, Madivalappa got trapped and his body was recovered at around 8pm in the night.
BWSSB Chief Engineer Nithyananda Kumar promised investigations into the cause of death and hinted that there were no safety precautions in place.
Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike Mayor Gambabike Mallikarjun, who rushed to the spot of the accident, announced that the Palike will give his family a compensation of Rs 5 lakh.
A FIR has been registered under Section 304A of the Indian Penal Code (Death by negligence) at the RR Nagar police station. Police say engineers responsible for the accident will be booked.
Earlier in October, a 24-year-old construction worker died after he was trapped in a mudslide at a construction site at Bhavya Layout on Jakkur Main Road, in Bengaluru. Three others were injured. The workers had been standing in a pit which they had dug for the purpose of building pillars, when the pile of mud which had been dug out fell back into the pit, burying them. The builder Chandrasekhar Reddy was booked for negligence.