The 20-feet deep trench dug up by Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board (HMWS&SB) for laying sewer lines in Seven Tombs Road in Tolichowki in Hyderabad, on Tuesday.
| Photo Credit: NAGARA GOPAL
Gulam Mohammad, who fell into a 20-ft trench dug up for laying a pipeline succumbed to his injuries on Monday.
The trench was dug by the Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board (HMWS&SB) for laying sewer lines in Tolichowki on Seven Tombs Road.
Mr Mohammad, a resident of Gulshan Colony in Shaikhpet, was travelling on his scooter after the evening namaz at a masjid on Sunday evening when he fell into the deep trench. .
“His scooter fell on the left while he fell into the trench along with the barricade placed at the edge of the pit. There was a lot of traffic and the barricading was not strong enough. Within minutes, a huge crowd gathered at the spot and locals tried to pull him out. Workers used an earth mover to lift him out of the trench,” explained Mohammed Afroz, an eyewitness who has a vegetable cart at the location.
“He was brought to the stairs of our shop but by that time he already had suffered major injuries, particularly on the lower half of his body, and was rushed to a private hospital for treatment,” said another eyewitness, Wajid, owner of a cloth shop.
“They have been working on this small 250-300 metre stretch since last Ramzan. The work will continue for three months at the same spot, we have been told, after which they will dig up the next patch on the left,” an employee working in a car showroom said.
Reaction not response
“There was no proper barricading earlier. There were just a couple of lose barricades kept only on one side of the site which could not stop a vehicle from falling into the pit,” said Syed Jilani, who is a resident of the area since 1976.
The bustling Seven Tombs Road in Tolichowki gets narrow with shops and schools on both sides sees major traffic congestion between 9 – 11 a.m. and from 3 p.m. to midnight with school buses, private buses and other vehicles choking the lane.
Investigation underway
Final rites for Mr Mohammad were performed on Tuesday and the incident has left the locals upset amid the celebrations of Ramzan.
The Film Nagar police has filed a case under Section 304 II (Culpable homicide not amounting to murder) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), while both officials from the HMWSSB and Ayyappa Projects Private Limited, the contract company for the project, will be questioned as part of investigation, officials informed.
Meanwhile, the sewer work at the site has been halted until Ramzan.
