K'taka HC takes up suo motu PIL on Bengaluru Metro pillar collapse

The High Court of Karnataka on Friday initiated a suo motu (on its own) public interest litigation on the death of a woman and her child due to the collapse of an under-construction Bengaluru Metro pillar pier here.

Commencing the hearing on the PIL petition, Chief Justice Prasanna B Varale and Justice Ashok S Kinagri cited news reports about the accident and expressed concern.

The reinforcement cage of an under-construction pier collapsed and fell on a two-wheeler near HBR Layout here on January 10, causing the death of a woman and her child.

The court sought answers from officials concerned on the safety measures undertaken and whether tender documents specified safety measures.

It also asked whether the state government has issued orders on the safety measures and fixed the responsibility of contractors and officials involved in the construction. The HC included the State, Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) and the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) as the respondents in the case.

Notices were ordered to be issued to the respondents and the hearing was adjourned.

Tejaswini, a 28-year-old software engineer and her toddler son died in the incident while her husband and daughter escaped. The BMRCL has sought the help of the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) to conduct an independent probe into the matter and also suspended its engineers involved in the construction.

An FIR has been registered against Nagarjuna Construction Company and seven others including a BMRCL deputy chief engineer and an executive engineer.