A day after three labourers were crushed under metal racks at a warehouse at Seegehalli, a team of Fire and Emergency Services officials said the incident could have occurred owing to improper installation of racks that were overloaded with crates. Labour officials arrived at the warehouse on Friday to report on safety and labour law violations.
The officials said the racks had been built to a height exceeding 30 feet and were laden with consumer goods. The nuts and bolts supporting them were inadequate. The excess weight eventually saw the bolts buckle and one of the racks toppled, setting in motion a domino effect that left three workers dead and five injured.
In all, 30 racks were estimated to have had 140 tonnes of goods, said officials.
Team sent to Delhi
The warehouse was owned by New Delhi-based Holisol Logistics that offers logistics and supply-chain management to clients. Business head Ajay and site in charge Amanullah, who were arrested on charge of death due to negligence, were remanded in judicial custody on Friday. Abdul Ahad, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Whitefield), said a team has been sent to the Holisol Logistics office in Delhi to arrest three directors who have been made accused in the case.
Meanwhile, at Vydehi Hospital, there was anger against the company for not aiding the family members in sending the bodies of two of the deceased back to their hometown in Odisha.
Suresh Babu, a resident of Seegehalli and who was attempting to help out the victims as an informal representative of the gram panchayat, said the company’s representatives had not arrived at the hospital to help out the families of the deceased. While Farooq, 22, was from Bengaluru, the bodies of Subhash, 26, and Jnan Dharshan, 25, had to be sent to their hometowns in Odisha for final rites.
Labour officials: We will review all safety guidelines
Labour officials said the warehouse was registered under the Karnataka Shops and Commercial Establishments Act, 1961, which does not have provisions to cover overloading of racks.
“The Act primarily contains provisions for employee welfare rather than for stringent safety measures that are prescribed under the Karnataka Factories Act. With this, our role is limited. But we will review all the safety guidelines and based on the report by our inspectors, we will issue notices to the company. And based on their reply, we can take action. But this may take 10 to 15 days,” said C.H. Balakrishna, Deputy Labour Commissioner – 1. Instead, labour officials will focus on enforcing the Karnataka Workmen’s Compensation Rules, 1966, which guarantees compensation for the kin of the deceased.