On Tuesday morning, a crane that was working on the third phase of the Samruddhi Expressway in the Thane district of Maharashtra collapsed on a bridge slab, killing at least 17 workers and injuring three more.
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The Crane Accident
According to information currently available, the location employs between 25 and 27 people per shift. The incident happened in the Shahapur village of Khutadi Sarlambe while the third phase of the Samruddhi Expressway was being built. The Samruddhi Corridor included the ongoing construction. At a height of between 90 and 100 feet, the crane fell.
In the early hours of Tuesday, three workers suffered injuries and at least seventeen people were killed after a crane fell on a bridge slab while working on the third phase of the Samruddhi Expressway in Thane, Maharashtra. According to the authorities, the incident happened at about 12 am.
The collapsed crane was a mobile gantry crane that was specifically designed for setting up precast box girders for bridge construction and highway construction projects.
Officials are concerned that at least six more victims are trapped beneath the debris. At the crash site, Shahapur MLA Daulat Daroda told reporters that “17 people were killed, 3 people were hurt, and 4 to 5 people are trapped.”
There were 28 workers at the site for the night shift; 17 of them perished, 3 were hurt, and 3 were still stuck there. According to Shahapur police, five workers were still alive but uninjured. The rescue and search operation is still going on.
The Action Taken by the Government
The site is being worked on by teams from the NDRF, SDRF, and Thane Municipal Corporation. Ashok Shingare, Thane District Collector, went to the scene and oversaw the rescue efforts. According to ANI, citing NDRF, “Till now, 17 dead bodies have been retrieved, and three have been injured.” The bodies have been transported to the Shahapur Government Hospital for an autopsy. The injured were taken to the close-by Shahapur Gramin hospital.
The FIR was filed against the subcontractors of Navayuga Engineering Company Limited and VSL Private Limited, the companies hired to build Package 16 of the Samruddhi Expressway, the 701-km motorway between Mumbai and Nagpur, according to the police.
According to the FIR filed in Shahapur police station based on the complaint of injured worker Premprakash Ayodha, says that the girder and gantry machine crashed on the employees, engineers, and supervisors at the site as they were being launched, causing numerous deaths and a few injuries.
According to the FIR, the girder and launcher fell because the subcontractors hired by Navayuga Engineering and VSL failed to take the essential steps for the workers’ safety.
Compensation and Condolence
The family of each individual who died would receive an ex-gratia payment from the PMNRF of Rs. 2 lakh, while those who were injured would receive Rs. 50,000, according to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
“I am heartbroken at the tragic disaster that took place in Shahapur, Maharashtra. I send my deepest condolences to the families of the deceased. We extend the injured our condolences and prayers. In order to guarantee that individuals impacted receive the required support, the NDRF and local administration are working at the accident site, according to Modi.
The family of the deceased would receive an ex-gratia of Rs. 5 lakh, according to Maharashtra CM Eknath Shinde. The state government will also cover the injured workers’ medical costs. He additionally ordered a thorough investigation into the situation.
Points to be Noted
- Locals say that the victims are migrant workers.
- The Hindu Hrudaysamrat Balasaheb Thackeray Maharashtra Samruddhi Mahamarg, a 701-km-long motorway connecting Nagpur and Mumbai, is now nearing completion.
- One of India’s longest expressways, the 701 Km route would traverse through the 10 districts of Maharashtra as well as the renowned urban centres of Amravati, Aurangabad, and Nashik for a cost of approximately Rs. 55,000 crore.
