Migrant labourer, daughter killed as wall caves in

Tribune News Service

Solan, July 22

A migrant woman Savitri Devi and her minor daughter Mina (12) were killed, while his son Arjun (9) was injured when the boundary wall of a building abutting their jhuggi caved in and thousands of bricks which had been piled up on the other side of the wall fell on them at Billanwali village in Baddi industrial area in the wee hours today.

Superintendent of Police, Basher Singh, said the migrant labourers, who hail from Sambhal district of Uttar Pradesh, were living in the jhuggi erected on the land of Dyal Singh. Several other jhuggis were also erected on the same land.

The jhuggis were housed at a distance of about five feet away from the boundary wall of one Ram Rattan who had pled up about 15,000-20,000 bricks on the other side of the wall. The boundary wall caved in after heavy rains lashed the area around 4:30 am and the pile of bricks fell on the jhuggi where the deceased were sleeping.

Savitri’s husband Kailash Chand had a miraculous escape as he had come out of the jhuggi minutes before the mishap. The people living in the neighbouring jhuggis rushed to help the family members buried under the debris. Savitri and her daughter were taken to the CHC at Baddi, where they were pronounced dead. Arjun, who was injured in the mishap, was being treated at the CHC, Baddi.

The police have registered a case of death due to negligence under section 336 and 304-A of the IPC against Ram Rattan and investigations were on.

This is not the first case where jhuggi dwellers had lost their lives due to a wall caving in and such incidents had become routine as there was no check on the substandard construction of boundary walls in this industrial belt.