Soil collapse buries, kills worker at Nanded City

PUNE: A 24-year-old worker, taking measurements in an excavated area 12feet below a road surface for laying a drainage pipeline was buried alive after a heap of soil from either side of the border of the dug-up area fell on him. The accident occurred at the Nanded City township project on Sinhagad Road around 11am on Tuesday.
Police identified him as Parshuram Rangappa Mageri, a resident of Gokhalenagar off Senapati Bapat Road.
Nanded City Development and Construction Company’s vice president (administration) Manoj Sharma told TOI, “The excavation work was going on for laying a drainage pipeline leading to a sewage treatment plant (STP) in the township. The worker had entered the area for taking pipe measurements. At this moment, the soil fell on him. We immediately took him to the hospital. The company has outsourced the work and a vendor was executing it.”
Assistant inspector L N Naam of the Haveli police said, “We are investigating what caused the soil to fall from either side of the road surface onto the deceased. We will record statements of the other workers present at the site to ascertain how the accident took place. Also, we are awaiting a postmortem report and inquest panchanama details before taking a call on the registration of a case. The victim was rushed to a nearby hospital where he was declared brought dead.”
“As of now, we can only say that the contractor of the drainage pipeline project did not take enough precautions to ensure the safety of his workers,” Naam said.
A police officer said a case would be filed of causing death by negligence against the persons responsible for the accident after studying the entire incident.