AHMEDABAD: On Saturday afternoon, Prakash Salat, 24, and his 2-year-old daughter Seema were killed after a large earthmover accidentally felled a wall while reversing at under-construction Anupam Cinema-Khokhra Bridge site.
Despite being directed by the high court on two occasions since 2013, civic authorities have been blatantly ignoring matters of public safety during civic infrastructure works. Two back-to-back accidents are a reminder of how careless the AMC has been in warning citizens about under-construction sites of civic works.
As for Saturday’s tragedy, CCTV footage clearly shows that the personnel supervising the earthmover had not warned the people sitting near the wall. A third person, Babu Salat, 18, was seriously injured and taken to LG Hospital.
On Friday, a 50-year-old two-wheeler rider Raju Pandit fell into a 30-foot uncovered stormwater drain pit. Pandit was fished out by fire brigade personnel using a harness and a canvas bag and admitted to LG Hospital.
“AMC officials outsource their moral responsibility concerning civic works to private contractors. In this case, it is Ranjit Buildcon, to which the earthmover belonged,” said Congress’s opposition leader, Shehzad Khan Pathan. “No AMC official is ever held responsible for such accidents. For years, the buck has been stopping with consultants, contractors, and third parties in case of accidents.”
