Kannauj shuttering collapse case: Contractor & engineer booked

Lucknow: The railways on Sunday lodged an FIR against contractor Ram Vilas Rai and engineer Suraj Prakash Mishra for the collapse of an under-construction building at Kannauj railway station on Saturday.While no casualty was reported, as many as 23 workers, out of 52 working at platform 1, were injured in the accident on Saturday. The FIR by executive engineer of railways, Vipul Mathur, was lodged at GRP's Farrukhabad police station."The contractor and engineer Suraj Prakash Mishra, both associated with M/s Ashutosh Enterprises, have been booked under BNS sections related to endangering personal safety of others, negligent behaviour, negligent conduct during construction, and sections of the Railways Act," Mathur said.According to the FIR, the first and second spans of the slab casting for the Kanpur Anwarganj side were completed on Jan 9 and 10. On Jan 11, work on the remaining spans began at 9.30 am using an additional lift machine. "At 2.25 pm, the shuttering of the three spans, including the slab and beams, collapsed," the FIR said. The construction was carried out as part of the Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT), aimed at enhancing the infrastructure of Kannauj railway station. The accident disrupted the construction process and caused significant distress among the workers, the FIR saidRailway officials noted that the accident also hindered railway operations and raised questions about the safety protocols followed by the contractor. Station officer, GRP Farrukhabad, Amar Pal Singh, said that the negligence of the contractor and engineer, whose alleged oversight led to the accident, will now also be probed by the GRP.Meanwhile, the 16-hour rescue operation at Kannauj railway station culminated at 6.30 am on Sunday after a team of 17 personnel from SDRF, equipped with hi-tech tools and a dog squad, sanitised the area.Kannauj district magistrate Shubhrant Kumar Shukla visited the site early on Sunday.A CCTV footage from the site has surfaced, showing a labourer attempting to fix the shuttering (a temporary structure used to support concrete) when the roof collapses. The footage suggests that a beam carried by the worker hit the shuttering, causing it to slip and ultimately collapse.The North Eastern Railway (NER) has also formed a three-member committee to investigate the cause of the collapse. The committee will include the chief engineer for planning and design, the additional divisional railway manager (Izzatnagar), and the chief security commissioner of the Railway Protection Force.NER officials have announced ex gratia for the injured workers: Rs 50,000 for those with minor injuries and up to Rs 2.5 lakh for those with serious injuries.