Crane topples at Metro construction site in Bengaluru, no casualties

BENGALURU: Road users at Silk Board junction narrowly escaped a major disaster on Friday night when a crane working at a Metro pillar (reinforcement cage) construction site suddenly toppled sideways due to overloading. Fortunately, no casualties were reported.

This comes at a time when the collapse of a Metro reinforcement cage on a moving tw-wheeler, killing a woman and her child near Nagawara is still fresh in public memory.

Around 7 pm on Friday, a large crane was working on the installation of a reinforcement cage at a Metro construction site near Silk Board Junction. Due to the heavy load, the crane overturned suddenly on the service road and hit the retaining wall of a rajakaluve.

The road from Bommanahalli towards Madiwala was closed to lift the crane, causing a traffic bottlenect. Motorists expressed their outrage against the authorities concerned saying that no safety measures have been taken in places where Metro work is going on and questioned who will be held responsible if there is any untoward incident or loss of lives.

The Metro staff at the site tried to interrupt the media from covering the mishap but fled when they realised that cameras were whirring. Citizens have expressed concern over the series of accidents at Metro work sites and have questioning the BMRCL for not taking adequate safety measures, despite the tragedy in January this year.