Three women killed, four hurt after heap of mud caves in

Three women workers died and four others sustained injuries after they came under a heap of mud in village Dararpur in Pataudi, 44 kilometres from Gurugram, on Tuesday. Police said the women were working at the site for six months under the rural employment scheme, the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) scheme.

According to police, the incident took place around 10.30am when a mound of mud, around six feet high, fell on eight workers digging a pond in the village. The digging activity was being carried out by the group without any safety gear, said police.

District officials said it was a government site where the workers were digging a pond and it was 500 metres from the village.

Sandeep Aggarwal, subdivisional magistrate of Pataudi, said eight women workers were resting at the pond site after completing their work when the mound caved in on them. “Their job was to remove mud from the pond area. They didn’t realise that they had dug up the base and the structure had become weak. The women were working at the site since the past six months under the MGNREGA rural employment scheme. Under this scheme, there is no supervisor or contractor deployed with the labourers,” he said.

The deceased were identified by their first name as Billo Delhi (45), Kola Devi (40) and Priyanka Singh (30) of Pataudi. Police said they informed their family members and would register a case under relevant sections after recording their statements.

Aggarwal said the women were from nearby villages and were working under the scheme and had to mark their attendance to a senior person who uploads the same online. “They were paid between ₹200-300 a day for the work. There was no technical work involved due to which no safety gear were provided to them. They did not realise that the mud could collapse on them,” he said.

One of the workers, identified as Kiran Devi, managed to escape unhurt, and raised the alarm after which locals started gathering and police and administration were informed.

“The preliminary investigation has revealed that the women started digging at the bottom which destabilised the mound. There was no foul play and it was an accident,” Aggarwal said.

Harinder Kumar, assistant commissioner of police (Pataudi), said they received a call from locals after which a team from Pataudi police station reached the spot and the women were pulled out. “All seven were taken to a private hospital where doctors declared three brought dead.Three others are critical and one have minor injuries,” he said.

The person with minor injuries is admitted to a Pataudi hospital while the three critical workers are undergoing treatment at Civil Hospital, Gurugram, police said.

Dr Virender Yadav, chief medical officer (CMO), Gurugram, said of the three women, two have been discharged and one is still undergoing treatment. “She is stable; the others were discharged after their condition stabilised,” he said.

“The administration teams are conducting investigation and the administration has deployed a team at the spot too to prepare a report on the incident. The families of the victims will be given compensation as per the MGNREGA Act. The administration will also extend its support to the families as much as possible,” he said.

Subhash Singh, husband of one of the deceased women, said his wife used to work there to make ends meet. “We work in the fields and, presently, there is no farm work. So my wife started doing the pond digging work. She left early on Tuesday morning and I received a call around 11am regarding the mishap. My two children are crying since morning and I feel so helpless about what to do and where to go,” he said.

The locals said they will meet deputy commissioner and will request him to announce a compensation for the victim families.