Karnataka Metro Pillar Collapse: BMRCL Orders Probe, Announces Rs 20 Lakh Ex-Gratia For Kin Of Deceased

Bystanders rushed the woman and her severely injured two-and-a-half-year-old son to a private hospital nearby right away, but they both succumbed to their injuries.

Woman, toddler killed as metro pillar collapses in Bengaluru ( Image Source :Twitter/@SevadalKA )

New Delhi: Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Ltd on Tuesday announced that the cost of treatment of injured persons and support of Rs 20 lakhs will be given to the family of the deceased after an under-construction Bengaluru Metro pillar collapsed on a family of four on Tuesday, killing a woman and her toddler son and injuring her husband and another child, reported news agency ANI.

Cost of treatment of injured persons & support of Rs 20 lakhs will be given to the family of deceased: Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Ltd on Metro rail pillar collapse

— ANI (@ANI) January 10, 2023

"Notices are being issued to the contractor & concerned engineers. IISc will be requested to probe&provide a report. An internal technical team will so investigate the matter," said BMRCL quoted by ANI.

According to PTI, the steel rod centring that was used to erect the concrete pillar for the "Namma Metro" (Bengaluru Metro) fell on their scooter around 10:30 a.m. on Outer Ring Road near HBR Layout, according to the police. The pillar is said to be over 40 feet tall and several tons in weight.

Bystanders rushed the woman and her severely injured two-and-a-half-year-old son to a private hospital nearby right away, but they both succumbed to their injuries.

"Both suffered head injuries, we tried our best to save them. There was lot of blood loss already and also fall in blood pressure," doctors who treated them said.

Doctors added that both the injured child and the woman's husband, Lohit, are doing well.

The affected family will each receive Rs 20 lakh in compensation from Namma Metro and the Karnataka government.

In Dharwad, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai promised reporters an investigation into the incident and announced compensation for the deceased.

"I just got to know about it, we will get it investigated... we will ascertain the reason for the collapse of the pillar and provide compensation," he said.

He said an investigation would be conducted and a case would be filed against those responsible, describing the incident as "unfortunate."

According to Bheemashankar S. Guled, the Deputy Commissioner of Police for Bengaluru East, a case based on Lohit's complaint has been opened, and an investigation will follow.

He added that the "NCC construction company" was the contractor who was carrying out the work, and naturally, a complaint will be taken against them. The Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) team has been called to perform the mahajar and collect the samples. Based on their report, it will be known if there was any negligence or poor work.

The incident was unfortunate, according to Anjum Parvez, managing director of the Bengaluru Metro Rail Corporation (BMRCL), who visited the location. The Indian Institute of Science has been asked to send a team to look into the incident and figure out why it happened.

"According to report by our engineer all the safety measures were taken as per the standard protocol, but still the incident has happened, so we will have to do the fact finding. Whether there was any manual negligence or technical problem we will get to know from the report. If there was any manual negligence action will certainly be taken against those responsible," he said, adding that Rs 20 lakh compensation will be given to the family by the Metro rail administration.

Even though there were a lot of cars on the road at the time, the accident caused a traffic jam for a while along the stretch.

(With PTI Inputs)