Bombay HC asks BMC to formulate safety guidelines for use of cranes at construction sites of high-rises

A person has the right to move freely without the fear of getting killed or hurt the Bombay High Court said while directing the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation BMC to formulate safety guidelines for the use of cranes in construction of highrisesA division bench of Justices G S Kulkarni and R N Laddha in its order on Thursday noted that it was high time the BMC gave special attention to the safety requirements at construction sites and said it was certain the civic chief would look into these issues so that appropriate directivesguidelines are formulatedOn February 14 a large cement block came crashing down from the 52nd floor of the underconstruction Four Seasons Private Residences project at Worli in central Mumbai killing two persons standing outside the premisesA petition was filed by Lokhandwala Residency Towers Cooperative Housing Society Ltd located next to the underconstruction building alleging lack of proper care by the developer Provenance Land Pvt Ltd in the use of cranes at the construction siteThe high court in its order said the February 14 incident was too unfortunate and that it was deeply pained by itIt can never be countenanced that innocent lives are lost even by accidents of such nature caused by objects falling from a suspended crane located at an enormous height which a person on the ground may ordinarily not notice as the one installed at the present site the court saidAlso readMumbai Man minor girl die by jumping off hilltop after families opposed their marriageWe are deeply pained to note such incident and we hope that none of the highrise constructions in the city of Mumbai should make people vulnerable and prone to such accidents in which innocent people would get hurt or lose their lives it addedThe court cited that it was a common sight in Mumbai where several highrise buildings that are under construction have large suspended cranesWe firmly believe that a right of a person to move freely in places which are not actual construction sites if are threatened by a fear of being killed or hurt this would certainly amount to violation of ones fundamental right to livelihood guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution it saidThe court wondered if there was any inspection approval and certification of the operation of such cranes by any recognised specialised agency which may be appointed by the developersAs to what are the norms of safety andor precautions required to be implemented in undertaking such constructions so that they do not affect those who are outside the construction site ie in the adjoining landpremises or on the public road in the vicinity is an important aspect which would be required to be taken into consideration it saidThe bench further said it was certain the BMC chief would look into these issues so that appropriate directivesguidelines in this regard are formulatedIt directed the civic body to within two months to look into the issues inter alia concerning safety measures in the operation and use of cranes in highrise constructionsWe are certain that in the event the municipal corporation formulates any guidelines and intends to issue appropriate directives the urban development department of the state government shall act upon any such proposal of the municipal corporation with utmost expediency the court saidIn the present case of construction being done at Four Seasons Private Residences project the court ordered for a committee comprising structural engineers architects and technical engineers to be formed to oversee the constructionThe petition had raised concerns over a suspended crane installed by the developer in its project which is likely to endanger human lives in the event of any accidentAppearing for the petitioner senior advocate Prateek Seksaria and advocate Mridul Sharma contended that a lack of proper care negligencemishandling had caused the unfortunate incident on February 14This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever