The building site at Katamnallur in Avalahalli where Sharana Basappa (inset),a labourer from Sindhanur in Raichur district,was buried alive on Tuesday. DH PHOTO
A 21-year-old construction labourer was buried alive when a part of an excavated mud wall collapsed on him at a building site of Brigade Group at Katamnallur in Avalahalli on Old Madras Road, east Bengaluru, on Tuesday. Sharana Basappa, a native of Sindhanur town in Raichur district, is the victim.
Six labourers, including Basappa, were digging the foundation pit for a retaining wall to hold the mud. The work is part of the construction of a basement. As the mud wall was soaked with water leaking from a pipeline, it loosened and collapsed on Basappa while the other labourers managed to run to safety, said one of the workers. A worker then called the police who alerted the Fire and Emergency Services Department which rushed its men to the spot. Basappa was found dead in the debris. His body was shifted to a government hospital for post-mortem.
Basappa’s father lodged a complaint with the jurisdictional Avalahalli police who have booked Brigade Group and the contractor under IPC section 304A (criminal negligence causing accidental death). “We are verifying the contract agreement and will fix culpability on the appropriate person,” a senior police officer said.