construction worker injured as Pump House Collapses

LINK

https://www.thehansindia.com/andhra-pradesh/under-construction-pump-house-collapsed-in-tirupati-548198

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/vijayawada/under-construction-bldg-collapse-kills-one-injures-5/articleshow/70311376.cms

As per news reports as above, 5 persons got injured and one person died during the slab laying work for a pump house. Total about 35 persons are at work spot with six on the roof and another five below. It appears from television report that officers are not present during the work. Questions are raised on quality, supervision, etc for the incident.

There are several such incidents reported in the media, from time to time.

The reasons  for such incidents and measures required are generally as below:

• Civil work is done in some sites based on rule of thumb or based on the knowledge / experience / perception of persons without proper design or approval from design engineer
• Successful execution of similar works without design gives confidence / presumed authority for taking up such works in larger scale
• Work is left to ground level workmen thereby not verifying the quality of work.
• The form work / staging work / scaffold made for laying the slab needs to confirm to design
• Design drawing should be complied during erection and to be verified for conformity with the drawing before going for slab concreting
• Checking the form work peripherally will not help as any deficiencies inside as well as under the proposed slab sheeting can lead to serious accidents
• Supervision from the firm issuing work order is required in addition to supervision from the executing agency, during the work as there can be compromise 
• Minimum number of persons just sufficient for the work should be at site
• No person should be present under and around the slab work
• The approaches to the construction site should be available without obstructions for use in emergency
• Offset / gap between building and road should be ensured so that in case of collapse, the fallen material will not block the access for emergency services
• Persons engaged for work should be medically fit. It is better to provide food before and during the work and refreshments to the persons engaged in the work by the executing agency itself as some of the persons can be very poor and take work to earn livelihood
• Better to use steel for form work irrespective of height of work. Some agencies use wooden poles and eccentricity can be seen by persons going nearby. Doubts will arise immediately to the viewer that when this will fall. The gap on horizontal and vertical directions also will be so high that persons going nearby will be scared about its stability.
• Work should not be taken up in heavy wind or rain as scaffold can collapse
• In many sites ladder / access to reach point of work will not be available and persons are seen climbing up or down like monkeys jump from one branch to another or by sliding or climbing. This is unsafe and can lead to fall of persons.
• Sufficient illumination is to be planned and provided so that work can be done even in darkness with clear visibility.

Developing the First Ever Facility for the Safe Disposal of Spent Fuel

Developing the First Ever Facility for the Safe Disposal of Spent Fuel

LINK

Some measures for improving environment

With time, villages are becoming towns, towns to cities, cities to metros. Increased urbanization is demanding development of infrastructure. Once barren lands or green areas are now become concrete structures. 

There is demand for land, water, electricity, roads, houses, etc. Increased population is leading to more and more vehicles on the roads and pollution levels are on the rise. There are vehicles everywhere on the road. Persons are not considering having own parking areas inside their buildings. Vehicles are parked on the public roads leading to congestion. 

Cold and fever which were once seen for short duration are now not cured even after a month of suffering. 

To improve environment, I feel that we should fix population density in terms of number of persons per unit area. Along with it, we also need to fix green density. Town planners need to consider this while issuing permission. There should not be any scope for regularization of unauthorized constructions. If anybody violates, instead of regularization, penalties need to be collected and the ownership of  illegally constructed properties should go to government. No appeal shall be entertained in this regard.

Similarly, owners of vehicles parked on the roads shall be punished.

Rainwater harvesting and soak pits shall be part of every area developed. The percentage of area for this also should be fixed and to be followed.

For existing buildings, time frame of six months or one year to be given and these requirements to be complied. There should not be any extensions. And huge penalties to be imposed on violators. 

On my commute to workplace, I see places with no water and wastage of water. People use water for washing and the washed water flows on the water. In some areas, people wait for water tankers to collect the little whatever they can get hold. Every service should be charged for its actual cost.