Bengaluru Metro Pillar Tragedy: High Court Takes Up Case On Its Own

The Karnataka High Court today, on its own, took note of the metro collapse in Bengaluru that killed a woman and her two-year-old son. Negligence by metro officials caused the reinforcement cage of an under-construction metro pillar to fall on a two-wheeler on Tuesday. The woman and son died during treatment at a hospital nearby, while her husband and daughter were also injured.

Three Bengaluru metro officials were suspended following the accident. 

Officials from Indian Institutes of Technology, Hyderabad were seen surveying and inspecting the raw materials that were used for the construction to corroborate evidence on what caused the cage to fall.

The pillar, made of metal rods, was about 40 feet high.

Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, already under scrutiny over corruption allegations, assured a thorough inquiry into the accident. 

The Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) announced a financial assistance of Rs 10 lakh each for the two who died, and the Chief Minister announced an additional Rs 10 lakh each.

Anjum Parvez, Managing Director, BMRCL, who called the incident 'unfortunate', said they will also launch an internal audit. 

"According to reports by our engineer, all the safety measures were taken as per the standard protocol, but still the incident has happened, so we will have to do the fact finding. Whether there was any manual negligence or technical problem we will get to know from the report. If there was any manual negligence, action will certainly be taken against those responsible," he had said.