The Pune Municipal Corporation has ordered stricter safety checks at construction sites during the Diwali holiday period and directed civic engineers to stop work at sites operating with inadequate manpower. The instructions are aimed at preventing accidents caused by increased workloads and weakened safety oversight when workers leave the city for the festival.
PMC city engineer Aniruddha Pawaskar has told the department’s engineers that construction work must not continue by placing workers’ lives at risk. Contractors and developers have been directed to follow the instructions strictly, while municipal engineers have been asked to prohibit work at sites where operations are being conducted with insufficient staff.
A large number of workers from different districts of Maharashtra and other states return to their villages during Diwali. The resulting reduction in the availability of skilled and unskilled labour can slow construction activity across Pune. According to the report, thousands of construction projects are currently under way in the city, with some workers already having left and others expected to travel during the holiday period.
PMC has warned that continuing work with fewer workers can increase pressure on those who remain on site and raise the risk of accidents. The civic body has therefore instructed developers and contractors to ensure that essential safety arrangements are in place before work continues.
The directions include strong barricading around construction sites, securing open pits and trenches, and providing adequate lighting at night. Sites must also have reflectors, blinkers and warning boards to alert pedestrians, motorists and other people near the work area.
Contractors have been instructed to provide workers with helmets, safety shoes, safety belts and reflective jackets. Work at height must be assigned only to trained workers, while electrical connections at the sites must be checked for safety before operations proceed.
PMC has also assigned inspection responsibilities to its engineering staff. Junior engineers, deputy engineers and executive engineers must conduct physical inspections before the holiday period. Each deputy engineer is required to complete a safety inspection checklist and submit it to the relevant department head and the city engineer’s office.
The order places responsibility on contractors if an accident occurs because of negligence in implementing safety measures. Pawaskar has stated that action will be taken after fixing the responsibility of the concerned contractor. The instructions make the continuation of construction activity during the holiday period dependent on adequate staffing, inspection and compliance with prescribed safety measures.
