Three killed as stop dam wall collapses

Bhopal: Three workers were killed as the retaining wall of a stop dam collapsed as it was being renovated by a non-government organization in Chhindwara district. The incident took place during Sunday evening at Jamuniyatal village which comes under the jurisdiction of Mohkhed police station and the three deceased have been identified as Ganesh, Jitendra and Ramkishore. Besides the deceased, one other worker Shiv Prasad has sustained injuries, said police. “There was an old small stop dam at the site where the accident took place. The NGO which works under CSR funds in the field of farmer welfare had approached the village panchayat for constructing a new retaining wall. Panchayat had approved the request but it was made clear in the approval that a new wall should be built at a distance of at least 20 feet”, Mohkhed police station incharge Gopal Bhati told TOI. “The NGO workers started work around 3 days ago without informing the panchayat and instead of building a new wall at a distance of 20 feet, they were digging the foundation of the old wall, probably in an attempt to renovate it. The debris that was being collected from one side of the wall was being dumped on the other side and the load of the debris led to it’s collapse when four workers were working under it,” said Bhati. Three of them died, while one sustained minor injuries. A case of unnatural death was registered in the night, and now after investigations a case of negligence causing death was registered along cases under other relevant sections,” Bhati added. tnn