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Six killed as girder crashes at Delhi Metro construction site

— Photo: Rajeev Bhatt.

SIX KILLED: Rescue operation in progress after a girder at an under-construction Delhi Metro Rail Corporation bridge collapsed at Jamrudpur in South Delhi on Sunday. Six persons were killed and 15 injured in the incident. Managing Director of the Corporation E. Sreedharan resigned owning moral responsibility for it.

NEW DELHI: Five workers and a site engineer were killed and over 15 injured when a massive launching girder came crashing down at a Delhi metro rail construction site at Jamrudpur on the elevated Central Secretariat-Badarpur line in South Delhi on Sunday. The condition of two of the injured was described as critical. This is the second tragedy that had struck the railway in eight months.

Taking full moral responsibility for the mishap, Delhi Metro Rail Corporation chief E. Sreedharan has resigned. “I am not directly responsible, but as the head of the organisation I have to take moral responsibility. I have sent my resignation to the Delhi Chief Minister and the Lieutenant-Governor,” he said.

Mr. Sreedharan, who visited the accident site, said the mishap came as a big jolt to him as it was much higher in proportion than a similar accident at Laxmi Nagar in East Delhi about eight months ago that had claimed two lives and left several injured. By a curious coincidence that mishap also occurred on a Sunday morning when the traffic flow on the busy stretch is lower than normal, thus averting a bigger loss of life and limb.

The tragedy this time round struck around 5 a.m. when over 30 employees of contractor Gammon India Limited were at work. Five segments on the stretch between pillars No. 67 and 68 had been erected and the sixth was being placed when the launching girder along with a portion of the under-construction viaduct caved in as the pillar cap collapsed. A water pipeline passing through the area was also damaged.

“We were lifting a segment when the structure collapsed. I sustained injuries in the head and hands and fell unconscious,” said 22-year-old labourer Chhavi Lal.

He said the work had been stopped on the stretch for almost three months because the pillar had developed a crack. “Work resumed about six days ago,” Chhavi Lal said.

About 20 workers were trapped under the debris. Eighteen of them were pulled out with the help of the locals and fire-fighters and were rushed to the All-India Institute of Medical Sciences trauma centre, Moolchand and Safdarjung hospitals. While three were declared brought dead, the bodies of three other workers remained trapped in the debris till evening.

A high-level technical committee has been constituted to identify the reasons for the accident. Mr. Sreedharan said the accident had caused a delay of three months in completion of the Central Secretariat-Badarpur line and a direct loss of Rs. 6 crore. “But the work would be finished before the Commonwealth Games in the capital next year,” he added.

The Delhi police have registered a case against the contractor of causing death due to negligence.

They will involve technical experts to fix the responsibility for the mishap.

Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, who visited the trauma centre soon after the mishap, said an inquiry had been instituted to establish the cause of the accident. She announced an ex gratia compensation of Rs.5 lakh each to the families of the deceased, Rs. 2 lakh each to the seriously injured, and Rs. 50,000 each to those with minor injuries. The expenses will be borne by the DMRC.