Kota : Kota An accident took place at around 12.15 pm on Saturday night outside the tunnel being built in Dara on Delhi-Mumbai Expressway. Five workers were buried under the soil due to the collapse of the vertical wall being built to support the artificial tunnel. One of them died. Of the four injured, two were referred to Kota when their condition became critical. NHAI has imposed a fine of Rs 50 lakh on contractor companies. A committee has been formed to investigate the cause of the accident. The committee will conduct a safety audit of the tunnel with experts on Monday, investigate the security lapses on the part of the contractor and the reasons for the incident.
15 workers were there when rebars were being tied in the tunnel towards Chechat on Saturday night. Meanwhile, the vertical wall built to support the tunnel at the front suddenly collapsed. The workers quickly rescued four colleagues buried in the soil, but it took about 20 minutes to rescue one worker because he was buried deep inside. He was taken to Medak hospital, where the doctor declared him dead. He was identified as Shamsher Singh (35), son of Lacham Singh Rawat, resident of Kothi in Dehradun district of Uttarakhand. Akshay Kumar (25), resident of Karoli, Dehradun, and Monu Bheel (25), resident of Kheda Chhipabrod, were brought to Kota. NHAI Project Director Sandeep Aggarwal said that the accident happened about 200 meters in the outer part of the tunnel. Construction of artificial tunnel (cut and cover) is going on here. A penalty of Rs 50 lakh has been imposed on the manufacturing company M/s Dilip Buildcon Limited and M/s Altice Holding Corporation.
