A labourer was killed and 35 people were injured when a metal balcony collapsed at a labour camp in Rajiv Gandhi Infotech Park in Hinjewadi on Sunday night.
The deceased has been identified as Ajab Lal (45). According to sources, about 1,000 labourers, mainly hailing from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, hired to work on construction sites of the firm L&W lived in the camp located in Hinjewadi’s Phase-III. The firm is undertaking two construction projects on infotech park.
On Sunday night, two labourers entered into a heated argument and an altercation broke out on the balcony on the building’s first floor. Hearing the commotion, about 40 labourers rushed to the balcony and the structure came crashing down.
A police inspector at Hinjewadi police station said: “Following the altercation, a large group of labourers gathered on the first floor. However, the metal structure could not withstand their weight and gave way. The balcony, including the steps leading to it, completely caved in.”
The police have lodged an FIR against the labour camp contractor and the safety manager for using substandard material in the construction of the lodgings. The case has been registered under Sections 304(a) (causing death by negligence), 336, 337 and 338 (causing grievous hurt by act endangering life or personal safety of others) of the Indian Penal Code.
In their complaint, the labourers accused the safety manager of deliberately packing in people beyond the building’s capacity to cut costs. The injured are undergoing treatment at Lifepoint Hospital in Hinjewadi. No arrests have been made as yet. Investigations are on.
The incident has brought into focus deplorable living conditions of labourers. Pune has witnessed a string of deaths in the construction industry in recent years. In June last year, nine labourers were killed and two injured after a slab in an under-construction building collapsed at Balewadi. In December 2012, 13 labourers were killed when a slab in an under-construction building caved in at Wagholi, around 20 kilometres from Pune.