Migrant workers in despair after wall collapse in Bachupally

Tragic construction site collapse in Hyderabad leaves seven dead, seven injured; workers from different states demand justice.

Mahesh (19) and Baman (18) had come to Hyderabad from Chhattisgarh less than a month ago to join their community members at a construction site in Renuka Yellamma Temple Colony in Bachupally. But Tuesday evening’s heavy downpour turned their life upside down. They saw seven persons die at the construction site where they were working. The two managed to pull out two young women stuck in the debris minutes after the wall came crumbling down in front of their eyes. The incident also left seven others injured.  

The incident happened when a six-foot wide mud barrier supporting the compound wall dissolved after the heavy rains around 7 p.m., leading to the collapse of the wall in the rear side of the apartment on their makeshift sheds.  “Three bodies were pulled out around 1.30 a.m. while four others were discovered around 4 a.m.,” officials inspecting the site on Wednesday shared.  Among the seven who lost their lives was a family of three — 44-year-old Ram Yadav, 40-year-old Geetha Bai, and their four-year-old son Himanshu. Others were 18-year-old Shanker Goud, 23-year-old Sripati Maheji, 30-year-old Bindresh Bhavani Chauhan and his 20-year-old wife Khushi.  While 19-year-old Yedimi, 19-year-old Moti, 21-year-old Sagar, 20-year-old Dhamo Suri, 19-year-old Taghapati, 28-year-old Aamir Hussain and 21-year-old Surender sustained injuries and were discharged from a private hospital in the vicinity during the day.  

“It was God’s grace that I got saved. I was working just on the other side of the shed when the wall collapsed and so many from my community got stuck under the debris,” said Aamir, who joined work at the site around a month and half ago from West Bengal. Aamir survived with injuries on his head, forehead and arm. 

There were about 40-50 workers from Chhattisgarh, Odisha and West Bengal residing in the sheds, who for now have been asked to relocate either to a building under construction or the fully functioning one located nearby.  The workers have come from different States and the men were getting paid about ₹600- ₹900 per day while the women were paid ₹500.  

Hours after the incident, the workers discharged from the hospital were seen lying wrapped in cotton dupattas in the cellar with their IV needles intact in the veins of their arms. “We just came here a week back and now my sister is lying here injured,” cried another woman waiting for some response from their supervisor who remained incommunicado.  

The Bachupally police have booked the builder Arvind Reddy of Rize Developers, contactors – Rajesh and Shanker Reddy, site engineers - Satish and Francis under the Section 304 A (death by negligence) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).  

“The five men will be called for interrogation. For now, the builder has been paying for the treatment of the injured workers. He has also been asked to relocate them to a different place,” said G. Ramesh, Admin Sub-Inspector of Bachupally police.