Metro pillar collapse incident causes panic among Bengalureans

Bengaluru: Several individals from Bengaluru expressed concerns over the metro pillar collapse incident and are in panic regarding the same. The tragic incident happened on Tuesday, January 10, when an under-construction metro pillar collapsed, leaving a woman (Tejaswini) and her toddler son (Vihan) dead while her husband and another child sustained injuries.

"Around 10:15 a.m., as I was standing there, the structure suddenly tilted, hit a tree, and then collapsed over the two-wheeler. The moment the pillar collapsed, there was a huge noise. I had no idea such a disaster would happen," said an eyewitness.

"Regarding the durability of these pillars, there is no assurance. Before a few others gathered and helped the family, we could see that the child had been severely wounded, and I was nearby when the incident occured," he added.

"It is terrfying to witness this since I have to travel by the same route. The pillars used from Jayadeva to Dairy Circle are of the same kind. A few screws and bolts are holding a simple structure in place. In order for the cage to survive the instability of the main pillar skeleton, it needs technically be supported in all directions by additional structurally designed steel components. Until the concreting is completely finished, this must be done," said a daily commuter.

Furthermore, the woman's father asked the Karnataka government on Wednesday to punish those responsible for the disaster after his daughter and grandson were killed when a pillar at a Bangalore Metro construction site collapsed on them.

The statements from Tejaswini's father, Madan, came after the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) declared a compensation of Rs 20 lakh and Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai stated that Rs 10 lakh would be provided to each of the deceased's family members.

Madan said in a statement to the media that it is not about compensation. "I don't require their payment. I'll give them one crore rupees. Can the chief minister save the lives of my daughter and grandson? Money is not the issue. BMRCL and the contractor Nagarjuna Construction Company Ltd (NCC) clearly erred," he added.

"I want the government to stop these incidents from happening again and save lives. The government must both detain the officials and place the contractor on a blacklist. Hundreds of lives in the public will be in danger if the chief minister doesn't take immediate, serious action. It's about time he did it," he continued.

Meanwhile, the officials of BMRCL and NCC have reportedly been subjected to action, according to Karnataka's home minister Araga Jnanendra. "Director Chaitanya, Special Project Manager Mathai, Project Manager Vikas Singh, Supervisor Lakshmipathu, Junior Engineer Prabhakar of NCC, Executive Engineer Mahesh Bendekari of BMRCL, and Deputy Chief Engineer Venkatesh Shetty have all been named in the FIR."

The Govindapura police have filed a case against the site engineer for BMRCL and other employees of the company under sections 336 (Act endangering life or personal safety of others), 337 (Causing hurt by act endangering life or personal safety of others), 304 (a) (Causing death by negligence), and 427 (Mischief causing damage to the amount of fifty rupees).

On Wednesday, they also gathered the contact information of the officials in charge of the project. Officials also announced that BMRCL had suspended three officials. Anjum Parvez, the managing director of BMRCL, said that the investigation would reveal the accident's root cause.

"Three officials have been suspended as a result of the incident: the section supervisor, executive engineer, and deputy chief engineer. Today, another notice will be issued. We shall take the required action after receiving the report from IISc," Parvez added.