The High Court on Thursday took suo motu cognizance of the incident where an iron rod fell on a rickshaw at the Thane-Bhiwandi-Kalyan Metro-5 construction site two days ago, seriously injuring a passenger. The court also expressed displeasure over the frequent accidents that occur due to the lack of safety rules despite orders to implement them.
The court also dismissed a petition filed regarding safety lapses at the construction sites of multi-storey buildings in connection with this incident.
Two years ago, a large cement block fell from the 52nd floor of an under-construction building in Worli, killing two people. A petition was filed in March 2023 in connection with this incident.
A bench of Justices Girish Kulkarni and Arif Doctor clarified that the petition will be taken up for hearing again in view of the accident that occurred on August 5. During the hearing of this petition, a committee was formed to prepare safety guidelines. However, the court also expressed its displeasure that the recommendations of the committee were not communicated to all planning officers.
The Secretary of the Urban Development Department was instructed to convey the report of these recommendations to the municipalities and monitor whether they are being implemented or not. However, the court also said, referring to the August 5 incident, that such accidents at the construction site would not have occurred if the recommendations had been implemented.
The court ordered the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) to submit the committee's guidelines at the next hearing. After that, the state government and various planning authorities will be able to implement them uniformly, the court said.
Meanwhile, the court also recalled its order of March 9, 2023. In it, it cannot be tolerated that innocent lives are lost in accidents caused by objects falling from cranes suspended high above for the construction of multi-storey buildings. The court had observed that such accidents were a violation of the fundamental right to life and livelihood. It was through this order that the appointed committee was asked to recommend safety rules, especially regarding the use of large overhead cranes at construction sites.
The committee was to hold meetings from time to time and the Municipal Corporation was ordered to implement the recommendations made by the committee regarding security.
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In the wake of the Bhiwandi incident, the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) has imposed a fine of INR 50 lakh on contractor Afcons Infrastructure Limited. MMRDA had also said that it had been asked to bear all the medical expenses of the injured and provide them with all possible assistance.