Less than a day after a shocking mishap claimed the lives of seven labourers working at the Kaleswaram lift irrigation project (KLIP) in Rajanna Siricilla district, another migrant labour lost his life on Thursday at the same site, due to alleged unsafe work conditions.
The victim, Devajit Sonowal (26) hailed from Assam and was working under a tunnel. He died on the spot after the roof collapsed, and a boulder fell on him, the Times of India reported.
The two incidents have raised concerns about the safety of the construction workers at the site.
Telangana Irrigation Minister T Harish Rao visited the Thippapur site, and took stock of the situation and ordered for an inquiry, headed by Irrigation Department Special Chief Secretary SK Joshi.
It was alleged that the agencies executing the construction, weren't keen on the safety measures, and were more focused about the completion of the time-bound project.
Meanwhile, Telangana state BJP Chief K Laxman and official spokesperson Raghunandan Rao visited the project premises at Thippapur. They alleged that the government failed to take safety measures and maintain quality in the works.
On Wednesday, after the death of seven people, officials said that three of the deceased were from Chhattisgarh, two from Odisha and one each from Bihar and Telangana.
The tunnel roof collapsed when the labourers were working at the boomer machine. The air pockets burst causing the collapse of the granite roof weighing about four to five tons.
While five workers died on the spot, one of the two injured succumbed on the way to hospital.
Kaleswaram is stated to be the costliest irrigation project taken up in the country with an estimated expenditure of Rs 80,500 crore.
Chief minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao expressed shock over the tunnel tragedy. He directed the officials to take measures to prevent such tragedies in the future.
Irrigation Minister Harish Rao announced that the project contractor would pay Rs 5 lakh ex gratia each to the kin of the deceased.
(IANS inputs)