Contractor booked after labourer dies in Malad soil cave-in incident

MUMBAI: A day after a portion of a pit caved in at a Slum Rehabilitation Authority (SRA) project in Malad East, killing a 39-year-old labourer and injuring three others, the Dindoshi police on Saturday booked the contractor for negligence. The police said Pravin Patel, the contractor and site supervisor, did not provide any safety equipment to workers, nor took any care of their security at the construction site despite work being carried out amid heavy rainfall.

At the time of the incident, the foundation of the project was being laid by the labourers. The construction work was being executed by United Infra at the site of Vora Developers and Amity Constructions in Pratap Nagar near the Western Express Highway, Malad.

According to the police, Sanjay Kumar Nishad, 32, the complainant, and his team, Premchand Jaiswal, who died in the incident, Sasti Das and other labourers were supposed to work with a fabricator, which is used for installation on a building site. Since there was a delay, the labourers were asked to sit for some time. However, due to continuous downpours, mud started falling on the foundation cavity and site supervisor Pravin Patel asked the labourers to get down and clear the mud.

“The labourers asked for helmets and safety gear, however, they were not provided with anything and were forced to go down the pit. At about 1:15 pm, a large portion of the soil caved in fell on them and the complainant was covered to his neck, Das till his knee and Jaiswal was completely trapped in the mud. Das and Sanjay, who were pulled out by the residents, called the fire brigade officials to rescue Jaiswal,” said an officer.

The officials said all of them were rushed to Trauma Care Centre in Jogeshwari West where Jaiswal was declared dead upon arrival. “Jaiswal died and the other two suffered serious injuries and therefore we have registered a case against the contractor under section 106 (causing death by negligence) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita,” said the police officer.