7 workers killed in quarry collapse in Bengaluru

Seven migrant labourers, including five from Madhya Pradesh, were killed instantaneously on Thursday when a massive granite rock slid from the top and fell on them in a quarry in Bengaluru urban district, a senior police official said and blamed “negligence” for the fatal incident.

Initially, police sources had said the majority of the victims hailed from Bihar but it was later clarified they were from Madhya Pradesh.

Earlier, Yashwanthpur MLA and former Minister ST Somashekar had claimed that one more injured died in the hospital, taking the toll to eight. However, Deputy Inspector General of Central Range S Girish clarified that only seven were killed, five were wounded, while four others working on the site escaped unhurt in the tragedy that took place at Madapattan in Bengaluru Urban District just at the border with Bengaluru South district.

Besides the five victims from MP, one deceased hailed from Chhattisgarh and another was from Yadgir in Karnataka. “There are two crushers here – one is on the top and the second one is below. There was work going on at both the sites. There were about 16 labourers working there. A drilling machine was deployed on the top. A massive rock slid from the top and fell on the people working below. Seven people died on the spot,” Girish told reporters here.

He added that the five injured are out of danger.

“It is very obvious that there was negligence due to which seven people lost their lives,” he added.

An official from the Mines and Geology Department, Rangappa, said the quarry owner has agreed to provide compensation to the next of kin of the deceased and the injured. “I spoke to the quarry owner to get Rs 10 lakh compensation to the relatives of the deceased and Rs five lakh to the injured. He has agreed to it,” Rangappa told reporters.

Mourning the demise of the labourers, Karnataka Chief Minister D K Shivakumar said, “We will issue fresh guidelines for quarrying activities across the state. I will ensure that no such incident occurs again.” He would examine whether quarrying activities were happening in the state as per the norms.

He said he had directed all officials to the spot, who would submit a detailed report on the incident.

 “As per initial reports, seven people have died. The first report indicates that the incident was not due to blasting, but due to soil erosion. I will get a detailed report on this,” the chief minister said.

When reporters asked him about the ex gratia, he said compensation is not the priority right now.

“We will certainly provide compensation to the families, there is no doubt about that. But my priority is to ensure that such incidents do not happen again in Karnataka,” he said. Speaking to reporters here, deputy chief minister G Parameshwara said he will gather information, and if there is anything that pertains to the Revenue department, which is his portfolio, he would take immediate action.

“We need to find out who grants these sanctions. At present, it is the Deputy Commissioners and the officials of the Mining Department who grant them. We will examine the matter and take whatever action is necessary based on our findings,” he said.

Expressing concerns over illegalities in quarrying taking place across the state, the deputy CM said he would do whatever is required to prevent it. Union Minister H D Kumaraswamy alleged there was a “big lobby” working in the state which is more interested in making money than the safety of workers.