Palghar: 10 workers stuck in swollen Vaitarna river rescued by NDRF, 2 GRIL staff booked; see pics

The Manor police have booked two persons, including the project in-charge and another official of the GR Infraprojects Limited (GRIL) for endangering the lives of 10 workers who were rescued by the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) after 15 hours on Thursday morning.

The workers were stranded in the swollen Vaitarna river in Bahadoli, Palghar since Wednesday evening amid the overflowing of the river.

Balasaheb Patil, Superintendent of Police (SP), Palghar said, "We have registered cases under Section 336 (endangering human life), 188 (disobedience to order) of the IPC against the GRIL. No arrests have been made as we have issued a notice to the accused to be present before the Palghar court after the charge sheet was produced. The above sections carry a 3-year term if convicted, hence there was no need to arrest the accused right away."

The SP further questioned why were workers even allowed despite the red alert.

"In the first place, why were the workers allowed on the site by the company at a time when the red alert was issued by the Collector?" asked Patil.

Background:

The workers were concretising the piling foundation for a bridge as part of the Mumbai-Vadodara Expressway project. They were on two barges- one floating and the other stationery- where six workers were on the fixed barge, and the remaining four were working on the floating barge. The barge was swept away 400m from the spot as the water level swelled.

The administration had also informed the Indian Navy to send their Chetak helicopters to airlift the workers but eventually, the water level receded on Thursday and the NDRF jawans using a tug boat rescued all the 10 workers.