Villagers who rushed to accident site recall trauma

SHAHAPUR: Dipak Adhikari, 35, a resident of Khotadi village in Shahapur, was outside his house enjoying some quiet post-dinner time at 11 pm. His house is 200 meters away from the site of the Samruddhi Mahamarg project, and the sounds of the construction work are part of his daily routine.

At around 11.15 pm, Adhikari heard what sounded like a bomb blast. “The electricity supply went off and there was darkness in the entire locality,” he said. “The impact of the girder launcher collapsing was so tremendous that I could feel the vibrations in my house. I alerted my uncle Prakash Adhikari and brother Raghunath Adhikari, and, along with other villagers, we rushed to the spot.”

Once there, the villagers found the girder launcher crashed to the ground and people trapped beneath it. “Together, we managed to pull out three people who were crying for help,” said Adhikari. “One of the injured persons asked me for water, and I ran back home and got water for all of them.”

Meanwhile, employees of VSL reached the spot and took the injured persons to the Shahpur primary health centre for treatment. Two were referred to the civil hospital and Jupiter Hospital for further treatment. “I will never forget this incident,” said a sombre Adhikari. “I used to see the work in progress daily, and suddenly within five seconds, the entire girder and launcher collapsed.”

Madhukar Shankar Walante, 57, an agriculturist from Khotadi village, was sleeping when he heard a thunderous sound. “I thought it was a landslide,” he said. “I woke up and rushed out. I found that the girder launcher had collapsed and many workers were trapped under it. The entire village could not sleep after the incident.”

‘He was to be married next year’

Nitin Singh, 25, a labourer from Balia in UP, had been working in VSL for five to six months on a salary of 18,000 per month. He was to get married in February 2024.

“I got the terrible news of the accident from workers and company employees,” said Nitin’s cousin, Subham Rampratap Singh. “We were stunned and couldn’t stop crying. Nitin’s fiancée and her family were traumatised. I reached the spot around 5 am and found that Nitin had been extricated by the rescue team from under the girder launcher where he was trapped for around five to six hours. He was taken to the Shahpur primary health centre, where he was declared dead.”