Kota/New Delhi: A worker was buried alive when the median side vertical wall outside a tunnel under construction of the 8-lane Delhi-Mumbai Expressway collapsed suddenly in Kota around 12.15 midnight on November 30, 2024.
The mishap occurred under “Construction of 8-lane Delhi-Mumbai Expressway (Tunnel) DME Package-15” during reinforcement binding activities at the ‘Cut and Cover’ section outside of the tunnel, resulting in the burial of five workers, including one telehandler operator.
Rescue efforts were immediately initiated, and four workers were rescued from the debris. However, the life of one worker could not be saved. The National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) said it is taking all essential steps to ensure necessary remedial measures are taken to address the situation.
The government has imposed a penalty of Rs. 50 lakh on the contractor DilipBuildcon Ltd.– Altis-Holding Corporation (DBL-AHC JV) and a show cause notice has been issued to the Team Leader of Authority Engineer, ICT in Joint Venture with Hexa Company and in association with Nokang Infra Pvt. Ltd for lapses in safety measures at their level, that resulted in the accident.
The government today also announced setting up an investigation committee of domain experts comprising S.K. Nirmal, DGRD – MoRTH (Retd.), A.K. Shrivastava, ADG – MoRTH (Retd.) and Alok Pandey of Elegant Engineering. The committee will visit the site on December 2, 2024, to ascertain the causes of the incident and remedial measures to avoid such occurrences in future.
The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways claimed today in New Delhi that all workers at the site were equipped with the necessary personal protective equipment such as helmets, gumboot safety jackets and others. It further claimed that the wall had been protected and stabilized with Shotcrete and rock bolts, as per the approved design drawings.
– global bihari bureau
