Piling rig machine falls near Metro Rail construction site
The Hindu
Narrow escape for the workers as flyover prevents the machine from tumbling
Many workers had a narrow escape as a piling rig machine fell at the Chennai Metro Rail construction site at Retteri on Thursday night.
Around 11.20 p.m. on September 1, while the piling machine, which is used for drilling the ground, fell over the flyover causing a minor damage to the structure. “Thankfully, the flyover took the impact of the fall of the piling rig machine. If not, it could have fallen over workers at the site. No worker was injured in this incident,” a source said.
According to officials of Chennai Metro Rail Ltd. (CMRL), as the city received rain a few days ago, the soil in the area has loosened. “When the operator was moving piling rig, suddenly, the soil gave way and the machine sank and fell over the flyover. The piling rig was deployed for utility diversion work. Emergency teams rushed to the spot and removed the piling rig machine by 6.30 a.m. the next day,” an official said.
As part of the massive Phase II project that is being built across the city at a cost of ₹61,843 crore, Metro Rail will have three corridors —Madhavaram to Sholinganallur, Light House to Poonamallee and Madhavaram to SIPCOT. The elevated station at Retteri is part of the Madhavaram-Sholinganallur stretch.
Chennai may receive rains in the coming months and this problem could occur in future too. But officials said they had begun taking steps to make sure such accidents do not repeat in future.
“We are taking safety very seriously. We hold review meetings every week with the general consultants and regularly with the contractors too. We are holding a detailed investigation into the issue,” another official said.
Subramani, a farmer from Anekal Taluk says he has been in a difficult situation lately. On his farmland adjacent to Heelalige Lake, he has been growing crops like sapota, broccoli and coconuts for years. The quality of the water from the borewells has been poor, but now on top of that a new problem has left him befuddled. Every time it rains, his land gets flooded resulting in the destruction of crops, he says.