Labourer dies under crane at monorail site

The monorail construction site near Arthur Road jail where a labourer was crushed to death by a crane on Friday 

Fifth Mishap On Monorail Construction Sites In 3 Yrs

Chittaranjan Tembhekar & Mateen Hafeez TNN

Mumbai: A labourer engaged at a monorail construction site close to Arthur Road jail on Sane Guruji Marg was crushedtodeathby a cranebelonging to J Kumar Infra Projects Ltd, one of the contracting firms on the job, on Friday morning. This is the fifth mishap on monorail construction sites since 2009.
 

    The man was part of a team supporting crane crew. The Agripada police said the victim came under the crane after his slipper got stuck under the wheels. A similar mishap had occurred at the Wadala monorail site last year; a crane belonging to the same contracting firm crushed a drunk person latein the night. 

 
    Friday’s victim, Mohammed Hamid Sahee Alam (21), a native of Uttar Pradesh, died as his head came under a front wheel of the crane. The police said the incident occurred around 11 am. The driver, Shatrughan, fled the spot.  “We have registered a case of negligence against Shatrughan and have seized the crane,” said senior police inspector Kishore Baviskar of the Agripada police station.
 

    The crane was carrying a big concreting funnelfrom the Jacob Circle area to a location in Chinchpokli when the mishap occurred. The labourer was working as a helper to the crane driver and was showing him directions,said an official of the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA), which is building the monorail.
 

    “The concreting funnel was hung by a hook in front of the crane. It appears Alam, who was moving along with the funnel, slipped and went unnoticed by the driver,” said MMRDAjoint projectdirector and spokesperson Dilip Kawathkar. “A detailed investigation isbeing carriedout and itwillbeensuredthatcompensation as per rules is paid to the family of the deceased by the contractor at the earliest.”
 

    The MMRDA is constructing a 20-km monorail route between Jacob Circle and Chembur via Wadala and has engaged L&T and Scomi on the job. J Kumar Infra is a subcontractor engaged by L&T, said an MMRDA official.

The Times of India, June 1, 2013