PUNE: The death of five workers in the accident at an under-construction building site in Yerawada on Thursday night has prompted a section of the city’s elected representatives to criticise the civic administration for allowing such work till late hours.
A heavy iron mesh and construction material fell on workers at the under-construction building site at Shastrinagar in Yerawada around 11.15pm on Thursday, killing five of them and leaving five others injured.
MLA Sunil Tingre on Friday said the construction site was “very poorly lit” and the work was “going on much beyond the deadline”. He said when he had visited the accident site, he found the safety norms were not adhered to.
“Rescue operations started only after the fire engines reached the accident site. I will be taking up the issue with the state cabinet and raise the problems faced by the construction workers. This is probably the fourth such incident in Pune in recent times when constructions workers died due to sheer negligence,” he said.
“The builder has given the work to some other company on a contract basis. But the builder is equally responsible for the deaths. Ideally, builders should also supervise and monitor the work sites. Some of the workers at the site said they were being exploited by the contractor,” Tingre said.
Local corporator Yogesh Mulik said the safety at construction sites was of a major concern. “Repeated accidents in the recent past have revealed that the builders are not serious about safety measures at the construction sites. The civic body must take strict actions against builders found violating the safety norms and making people work beyond the set time limits,” he said.
Asked about how the work was allowed at the Shastrinagar construction site at night, a civic official said there was no provision to put restrictions related to time on such work. “Ideally, the construction works are avoided during night to avoid noise that may disturb people living near the sites,”the official said.
Another civic official said an inquiry would throw more light on if permission was sought. “If any violations are found, the site engineers and others responsible for safety will be taken to task,” he said.
