Mumbai, Aug 1 (PTI) At least 17 persons, including 10 labourers, were crushed to death and three others injured as a girder launcher collapsed during the construction of a viaduct for the Samruddhi Expressway in Maharashtra’s Thane district on Tuesday, officials said.
A Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) release said three labourers are feared trapped after the launcher girder along with a segment launcher (crane) weighing 700 tons came crashing down from a height of 35 metres. Efforts are underway on a “war footing” to remove the automatic launcher.
The deceased included 10 labourers, two engineers, and five employees, said MSRDC, the Expressway project executing agency.
An NDRF official had earlier said a crane fell on a bridge slab during the construction of the third phase of the Samruddhi Expressway.
Police in Thane district registered an offence against two contractors for causing death by negligence in connection with the girder launcher collapse incident.
The incident occurred after Monday midnight at Sarlambe village in Shahapur tehsil, around 80 km from Mumbai, in Thane district.
An NDRF official said three persons were injured in the incident and they were being treated at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Hospital at Kalva in Thane.
Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis expressed grief and tweeted that a probe has been ordered into the incident by experts.
It was a special-purpose mobile gantry crane used in bridge construction and to install precast box girders in highway construction projects.
“The launcher girder along with a segment launcher (crane) that collapsed weighed 700 tonnes and it collected from a height of 35 metres during the construction of a viaduct on Samruddhi Mahamarg in Sarlambe village,” the MSRDC said.
It said the analysis of the launcher collapse incident is being done with the help of technical experts.
The launcher collapsed while being shifted between pier nos 15 and 16 of the viaduct, as a part of preparatory work for the next day, the release said.
The 2.28 km-long viaduct is being constructed using advanced technology by Navayuga Engineering and VSL India Private Limited, Singapore.
Of the total 114 segments of the viaduct, 98 were successfully constructed using this launcher, MSRDC added.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has condoled the loss of lives in the collapse incident and announced an ex-gratia of Rs 2 lakh for the next of kin of each of the deceased and assistance of Rs 50,000 for the injured persons.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah also expressed grief and said teams of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) are engaged in relief and rescue work.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Tuesday expressed grief over the loss of lives in the crane accident at Shahapur in Thane district and announced an aid of Rs 5 lakh for the families of each of the deceased.
An FIR was registered against two contractors of the company engaged in the bridge constriction work at Shahapur police station.
They are booked under sections 304 A (Causing death by negligence), 337 (Causing hurt by act endangering life or personal safety of others), and 338 (Causing grievous hurt by act endangering life or personal safety of others) of the Indian Penal Code, an official said.
The Samruddhi Mahamarg, named Hindu Hrudaysamrat Balasaheb Thackeray Maharashtra Samruddhi Mahamarg, is a 701-km-long expressway connecting Mumbai and Nagpur.
It traverses 10 districts including Nagpur, Washim, Wardha, Ahmednagar, Buldhana, Aurangabad, Amravati, Jalna, Nashik and Thane.
Of the 701 km long Samruddhi Mahamarg, the construction of a 600 km long stretch is completed and opened for traffic, while the work of a 101 km-long stretch between Nashik and Thane districts is in progress.
As many as 88 people have lost their lives in road accidents in the last six months on Samruddhi Expressway, including 25 last month as a private bus caught fire after hitting a divider, an official said. PTI DC KK VT GK NSK
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