Two labourers were crushed to death while another escaped with injuries in Hyderabad after a wall collapsed on them at a construction site in the city’s Premnagar area on Saturday.
The incident occurred under the jurisdiction of the Amberpet police station and the deceased have been identified Monavath Chandu and Venkataiah.
According to reports, the duo, along with another workers, were digging beside a wall near the electricity department office in the area, when loose soil dumped on the other side of the wall gave in and led to the collapse.
The wall was reported to belong to Ali Café at Amberpet and officials suspect that it may have collapsed due to dumping of debris.
On learning of the incident, Hyderabad Deputy Mayor Baba Fasiuddin rushed to the spot along with a team of officials and later also visited the Osmania General Hospital to check on the injured worker.
MLA Kishan Reddy, GHMC Corporater Jagan, the North Zone DCP, Deputy Commissioner of the Labour Welfare Dept, Ravinder Reddy, and officials of Telangana State Transmission Company (TRANSCO) also rushed to the spot.
“During the inspection, it has been noticed that the incident occurred due to unauthorized excavation of land and dumping of debris beside the compound wall of the electricity department office. As this led to the death of two workers, the police has filed the case against the owner,” a press release from the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) stated.
The GHMC Zonal Commissioner (North) later informed the media that the owner of the plot had been arrested and a criminal case had been filed against him.
Speaking to reporters, Baba Fasiuddin said that an Ex-gratia of Rs 6.3 lakh was announced from the Labour Welfare Department, while Rs 50,000 was sanctioned from the Revenue Depatment, under Apadbhandu scheme.
Rs 1 lakh was also sanctioned from the Mayor’s discretionary fund. The Deputy Mayor said that an enquiry has also been ordered and strict disciplinary action would be taken against the responsible persons.