The Karnataka High Court on Friday initiated a suo motu Public Interest Litigation in the incident involving the collapse of a Bengaluru Metro pillar that led to the death of a woman and her son on Tuesday. The incident occurred on January 10 when Tejaswini (28), a software engineer by profession was travelling with her husband and two children to work when an under-construction pillar of the Bengaluru Metro fell on the motorcycle they were riding on.
Tejaswini and her 2.5-year-old son Vihan were rushed to a nearby hospital where they succumbed to their injuries. Her husband and daughter sustained minor injuries.
“The incident took place around 10.30 am. As they were travelling, the scaffolding around the pillar snapped. Tejaswini and Vihan were sitting on the rear seat of the bike, and the pillar fell on them. Lohith and his daughter managed to escape. Tejaswini and Vihan were taken to a hospital on the other side of the road. But the doctors declared that they were brought dead,” said Deputy Commissioner of Police (East) Bheemashankar S Guled.
A case has been registered by the local police in Govindpura under several IPC provisions, including Section 304-A (causing death by negligence) and 337 (causing hurt by act endangering life or personal safety of others), against site engineers and officers of the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL), (https://www.financialexpress.com/about/bangalore-metro/) a joint venture of the state and central governments, as well as the contractors involved.
According to BMRCL Managing Director Anjum Parwez, the work is being carried out by Nagarjuna Construction Company Ltd and all safety measures were in place to the best of his knowledge.
“According to the engineer from our end, all safety measures were taken but we need to see whether there was manual or technical negligence. The IISc team will ascertain this and action will be initiated accordingly. We will stop Metro work on this stretch for a couple of days and will resume after taking necessary steps,” Parwez said.
The pillar was part of construction close to the proposed Nagawara Metro station, which will connect Kempegowda International Airport via Outer Ring Road.