RAMANAGARA, BENGALURU: Seven labourers were crushed to death after lose rocks collapsed at a stone quarry near Madapatna in of Tavarekere hobli of Bengaluru South taluk on Thursday morning. The labourers were digging a pit below the quarry when rocks suddenly collapsed from above.
The incident occurred at Cauvery Stone Crusher unit and the workers were mostly from Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Assam and Yadgir in North Karnataka. The Tavarekere police rushed to the spot on getting information about the incident. Police Superintendent Srinivas Gowda and Additional SP Ramachandrappa visited the spot. Inspector General of Police Girish also visited the spot and collected information about the incident from SP Srinivas Gowda.
It is said that an excavator operator was clearing a site to set up a new crusher. At that time, workers were working below. The excavator operator, who did not notice them, pushed two-three stone boulders down which fell on the heads of labourers working below. The bodies of the dead workers were retrieved after clearing the rocks using an excavator and shifted to a hospital for post-mortem examination. The bodies were badly mangled after being trapped under the rock. Three tractors were damaged due to the impact of the falling rock.
The wife of one of the deceased labourers, Ramu, a native of Yadgir, said, “It’s been one year since we came here for livelihood. We used to work from 6 am to 6 pm. Today morning, he had left home at 6 am and now this has happened. What should we do”?
Cauvery Crusher belongs to one Uday Shankar, a Bengaluru-based businessman. Even after four hours of the incident, the crusher owner has not arrived at the spot. It is alleged that the accident occurred due to mining without leaving a buffer zone.
Reacting to the incident, Chief Minister D K Shivakumar said, “A tragedy has occurred at a stone quarry on Magadi Road near Bengaluru. Information has been received that 6-7 people have died. The bodies have been found and officials have visited the spot. It has been found that there was no blast at the quarry. I will get a report today afternoon, it needs to be found out whether the quarry is legal or illegal. Rules must be followed. Our MLA has informed me, I will get the report and take action. We will look into the matter of compensation to the families of the victims”.
Deputy CM Dr G Parameshwara said, “I will gather information about it and after obtaining information, if there is anything related to our Revenue department, I will take action. If there is anything illegal, it needs to be looked into. As for who gives permission, it’s the Deputy Commissioners and the Mining Department. They will examine it and see what action needs to be taken. Illegal quarries are operating in large numbers across the entire state and we will do whatever is necessary to stop it”.
