The construction of the 25-storey building was being done by a private company called Ahluwalia Contracts Private Limited. (Express photo)A 21-year-old labourer died and 13 others were injured after a lift at an under-construction Delhi Development Authority (DDA) site in Outer North Delhi fell from the 10th floor to the 7th floor Thursday morning. The incident took place at DDA’s category II houses at Sector A1 to A4 in Narela around 8.30 am.
The victim has been identified as Sanjay Singh, a resident of a village in Uttar Pradesh’s Rampur.
DCP (Outer North) Gaurav Sharma said, “A PCR call regarding the incident was received at 9 am. Preliminary investigation shows that a wire in the lift, meant for taking construction material from the ground floor to the upper floors, snapped and the lift broke.” Police said that an FIR for causing death due to negligence has been filed at Narela police station.
The construction of the 25-storey building was being done by a private company called Ahluwalia Contracts Private Limited.
In a statement, DDA said, “A trolley meant for carrying labourers, preparing for painting jobs outside of dwelling units, fell down due to some mechanical failure. The DDA has directed the contractor to pay suitable compensation, applicable under relevant labour laws, to the family of the deceased and injured. The Superintending Engineer of the DDA has been entrusted to enquire into the safety lapses at site.”
An official from Ahluwalia Contracts Pvt Ltd, who was at Lok Nayak Hospital where Singh was taken, said, “The workers were on the lift even before the shift began, the thekedaar wasn’t present… safety equipment such as helmets and safety belts are provided.”
Manoj Ram, one of the injured labourers, said, “As usual, we took the lift to begin work and upon reaching quite a height, the wire broke and the lift fell down a few storeys.
At least 14 of us were aboard the lift.”
Singh was shifted to Lok Nayak Hospital, where he died during treatment around 3.30 pm. He was a painter.
His brother Manveer Singh (28), also a painter, said, “My brother moved to Delhi six months ago and got married two months ago. On Friday morning, I was 80 km away from him, doing the same job when his colleagues called me and said he had been injured.”
Manveer said Singh was being paid Rs 500 a day for the job, and joined the site a few weeks ago after he returned to Delhi, following Rakhi celebrations on August 15.
He is survived by his wife, parents and nine siblings.
“He moved to Delhi to earn better wages and was hoping to save enough in the next few months so that he could afford a better place for his wife to move in… She lives in the village, and we have told her about the incident,” said Manveer.
