Three days after Jayaseelan and Naresh fell into a 60-foot trench in Chennai’s Velachery, their family members continue to wait at the construction site, hoping for a miracle. Both Jayaseelan and Naresh’s families allege that the men were forced by their respective employers to turn up to work on December 4 despite the cyclone warning. The Chennai police are yet to book the companies. A third person, an unidentified migrant labourer who worked as a security guard at the site, also fell into the trench. The families and relatives, including Jayaseelan and Naresh’s ageing parents and Jayaseelan’s pregnant wife, totaling about 40 people, continue to camp at the site in Velachery, with no arrangements made for them.
On December 4, a container-turned-office that Jayaseelan, an Assistant Electrical Engineer with Greentech Structural Constructions, was working out of, fell into the adjoining trench that was dug for construction of a building. Due to the heavy rain, the soil became loose, and the terminal and a nearby bus stop were dragged into the trench. The petrol station where Naresh worked was on the other end of the trench and a portion of that caved in too. There is fear that perhaps people waiting at the bus stand, if any, could also have been dragged into the trench. Hinduja Leyland is the client for whom Greentech had undertaken the construction work of the building.
The rescue team from L&T is still trying to pull up the container from inside the trench. The team is clearing the sludge from the pit and has been using electrical submersible pumps to remove the water from the crater that was formed on the road. According to one of the rescue team members from L&T, they are going to use a 500-tonne crane to pull the container out of the trench and are in the last leg of removing the water from the 60-foot trench.
A diploma graduate, Naresh was working at a petrol bunk in a different part of Chennai until 10 days ago. In the last week of November, he was asked to shift to the petrol bunk adjacent to the construction site due to shortage of manpower there.
The Tamil Nadu Fire Service officials who are also involved in the operation said that there is 3 feet of sludge above the container. “Removing it is a difficult task as the water is mixed with soil and sludge,” a rescue team member told TNM. Since the basement of the site is very weak, they are planning to continue the operation manually now.
Sukumar, Naresh’s relative, said that his family members have been waiting at the site for more than three days. Naresh’s parents have been at the spot since December 4 and his other relatives too reached the place the same day. They have been sitting under a tree, waiting for Naresh to be rescued even as they braved the cyclone for two days.
Jayaseelan’s wife, who is four months pregnant, has been waiting there too, hoping for her husband to be rescued.
According to Naresh’s father Shankar, he was made to work continuously on December 2, 3, and 4 as the petrol bunk was functioning with skeletal staff.
Speaking to TNM, Jayaseelan’s relative Jeyan alleged that on the day of the accident, that is December 4, if the rescue team had been more proactive they could have managed to save Jayaseelan as the water level in the trench was not very high.
Meanwhile, an officer from the local police station told TNM that they were waiting for the operations to conclude before fixing responsibility and booking the companies that forced Jayaseelan and Naresh to work amidst the cyclone.
TNM’s repeated calls to officials of Greentech Structural Constructions where Jayaseelan worked have gone unanswered.